Pick it: Kenshiro Teraji vs. Seigo Yuri Akui

When to watch: Thursday, March 13 at 4 a.m. Eastern Time (8 a.m. GMT)

How to watch: ESPN+

Why to watch: Two world titles are on the line in the main event. Two more world titles are up for grabs on the undercard. All in an eventful evening in Tokyo at the Ryogoku Kokugikan Sumo Arena – a show that will be in the morning for those watching in the United States and United Kingdom.

In the headline bout, flyweight titleholders Teraji, 24-1 (15 KOs), and Akui, 21-2-1 (11 KOs), will meet to unify their WBC and WBA belts.

Teraji, a 33-year-old from outside of the city of Kyoto, picked up that vacant title in October, scoring an 11th-round technical knockout over former titleholder Cristofer Rosales. 

This will be Teraji’s 17th straight title fight dating back to two reigns at junior flyweight, where he eventually became a unified titleholder. He won the WBC title in 2017 with a majority decision over Ganigan Lopez and made eight straight successful defenses, including a majority decision over Pedro Guevara, a second-round knockout of Lopez in their rematch, and a seventh-round stoppage of former titleholder Milan Melindo. His title run came to a surprising halt in September 2021, when Teraji suffered a 10th-round TKO loss to Masamichi Yabuki. They had an immediate rematch in March 2022, and Teraji regained his title via third-round knockout.

Then, in his next outing, Teraji added the WBA title and Ring championship with a seventh-round TKO of Hiroto Kyoguchi in November 2022. He wrapped his run at 108lbs with victories over Anthony Olascuaga (who has since gone on to win a flyweight title and will also be fighting on this card), Hekkie Budler and Carlos Canizales.

Akui, a 29-year-old from Kurashiki, unseated longtime titleholder Artem Dalakian in January 2024 with a controversial decision. Akui defended it last year with a wide win over Taku Kuwahara in May and a split decision over Thananchai Charunphak in October. Akui’s two losses came against Junto Nakatani in 2017 (TKO6) and a surprising loss to the 17-8 Jaysever Abcede in 2018 (TKO6). In-between those defeats, Akui took out Yabuki in just 92 seconds.

In the co-feature, Anthony Olascuaga, 8-1 (6 KOs), will defend his WBO flyweight belt against the aforementioned Kyoguchi, 19-2 (12 KOs).

Olascuaga, a 26-year-old from Los Angeles, was just 5-0 and two and a half years into his career when he unsuccessfully challenged Teraji in April 2023, losing a ninth-round technical knockout. He then moved up to flyweight, dispatching former titleholder Giemel Magramo in seven rounds and knocking out Riku Kano in three rounds for the vacant WBO belt. Olascuaga made his first defense in October, scoring a TKO1 over former junior flyweight titleholder Jonathan Gonzalez when Gonzalez quit due to a clash of heads even though the ringside physician said he could continue.

Kyoguchi, a 31-year-old from Tokyo, previously held titles at 105 and 108lbs. His reign at strawweight lasted from 2017-2018 and featured victories over Jose Argumedo, Carlos Buitrago and Vince Paras. Kyoguchi then moved up in weight and soon dethroned Hekkie Budler for the WBA belt and The Ring championship. Four successful defenses followed before Kyoguchi lost that unification bout to Teraji in late 2022. Kyoguchi has been at flyweight since, with mixed results. Last year, he lost a unanimous decision to old foe Paras and then took a majority decision in their rubber match.

And the third title fight on this broadcast features Shokichi Iwata, 14-1 (11 KOs), defending his WBO junior flyweight title against Rene Santiago, 13-4 (9 KOs).

Iwata, a 29-year-old from Tokyo, fell short in his first attempt at a world title, outpointed by Gonzalez in late 2022. When Gonzalez vacated the belt, Iwata picked it up in October with a third-round TKO of Jairo Noriega.

Santiago, a 32-year-old from Puerto Rico, also has history with Gonzalez, losing a unanimous decision to him in March 2024. Santiago bounced back in October, shutting out the 23-2 Ricardo Astuvilca.

More Fights to Watch

Friday, March 14: Bryan Collins vs. Will Harrison (DAZN)

The broadcast begins at 3 p.m. Eastern Time (7 p.m. GMT).

This main event at the Liverpool Olympia in England features hometown welterweight Collins, a 28-year-old with a record of 8-1-1 (0 KOs). His loss came in December 2023 against the 5-11 Dmitri Protkunas. Collins has never beaten anyone with a winning record. His victories have come against foes with a combined record of 46-205-12.

Harrison, a 27-year-old from York, England, is 5-0-2 (0 KOs). Those draws came in back-to-back bouts last year with the 8-1 Joe Garside. Harrison’s wins came against opponents with a combined record of 13-265-1.

Friday, March 14: Euri Cedeno vs. Ulicis Rivera (DAZN)

The broadcast begins at 8 p.m. Eastern Time (midnight GMT).

Cedeno, 10-0-1 (9 KOs), is a 25-year-old middleweight from the Dominican Republic. This is his first appearance of 2025. Last year, Cedeno won all three of his bouts by KO or TKO, dispatching the 16-9 Antonio Todd in five rounds, the 14-6-1 Dormedes Potes in 58 seconds, and the 23-8-1 Aro Schwartz in less than four minutes.

Rivera, 11-1 (7 KOs), is a 25-year-old from Mexico. That blemish came in a unanimous decision loss against prospect Alexandre Gaumont in September 2023. Rivera followed that with a decision over the 36-23-2 Jhony Navarrete last April and a 96-second win over the 0-6 Kevin Ayala Gomez in November.

They will main event at Wind Creek Bethlehem in Pennsylvania. 

Saturday, March 15: Nick Ball vs. TJ Doheny (DAZN)

The broadcast begins at 2:30 p.m. Eastern Time (6:30 p.m. GMT).

Ball, 21-0-1 (12 KOs), will be making the second defense of his WBA featherweight title, once again at the M&S Bank Arena in his hometown of Liverpool, England. The 28-year-old had a good 2024, fighting to a draw with WBC titleholder Rey Vargas, defeating Raymond Ford via split decision for the WBA belt and stopping Ronny Rios in 10 rounds for his first title defense. 

Doheny, 26-5 (20 KOs), is a 38-year-old originally from Ireland who now calls Australia home. He was once a junior featherweight titleholder, holding the IBF belt for eight months from August 2018, when he outpointed Ryosuke Iwasa, to April 2019, when he dropped a majority decision to Daniel Roman. More setbacks came, including back-to-back losses at featherweight against Ionut Baluta and Michael Conlan. And in March 2023, Doheny returned to 122lbs and lost a wide decision to Sam Goodman.

Doheny then put together a few decent wins, which helped land him in the ring with undisputed junior featherweight champion Naoya Inoue last September. Inoue stopped Doheny in the seventh round. 

This could be the last title shot for Doheny. Ball, meanwhile, has been mentioned as a potential opponent for Inoue if and when “The Monster” moves up to 126lbs in late 2025 or early 2026. There are other intriguing fights available for Ball, including a unification bout with the winner of the May 24 fight between IBF titleholder Angelo Leo and Tomoki Kameda.

The undercard features a bantamweight bout between Andrew Cain, 13-1 (12 KOs), and former flyweight titleholder Charlie Edwards, 20-1 (7 KOs), as well as a number of prospects, including unbeaten lightweight Jadier Herrera, 16-0 (14 KOs), taking on Jose Macias Enriquez, 21-3-2 (8 KOs).

Saturday, March 15: Austin “Ammo” Williams vs. Patrice Volny, plus Edgar Berlanga returns and Omari Jones debuts (DAZN)

The broadcast begins at 6:30 p.m. Eastern Time (10:30 p.m. GMT).

If Williams thought he was the future of the middleweight division, then he got a reality check last June, when he was put away in the 11th round by Hamzah Sheeraz. 

Williams, a 28-year-old from Houston, began his rebuilding process in November with a TKO5 over the 11-1 Gian Garrido. Now 17-1 (12 KOs), Williams looks to make it two in a row in the main event at the Caribe Royale Orlando in Florida.

Volny, 19-1 (13 KOs), is a 35-year-old from Montreal, Quebec, who dropped a cut-shortened split technical decision to Esquiva Falcao in late 2021. Volny has won three straight since and was last seen defeating the 34-4-1 Steven Butler via TKO9 last June.

Given how shallow the middleweight division is, the winner of this fight will move up the rankings and will remain a candidate for being the B-side when someone more prominent needs an opponent.

On the undercard, super middleweight contender Edgar Berlanga will return to the ring six months after his loss to Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, taking on unbeaten Jonathan Gonzalez-Ortiz.

Berlanga, a 27-year-old from New York City, is 22-1 (17 KOs). His team said this undercard spot was a strategic move, keeping him active ahead of an anticipated bigger fight. But Berlanga, whose contract with Matchroom Boxing is coming to an end, is unhappy with this slot and eager for free agency.

Gonzalez-Ortiz is a 35-year-old from San Juan, Puerto Rico, with a record of 20-0-1 (16 KOs). His name may be familiar to some boxing fans. In 2012, after coming in massively overweight on the scale, Gonzalez-Ortiz fought Serhiy Dzinziruk to a draw on the same broadcast as Gennadiy Golovkin’s HBO debut. He proceeded to score victories over Derek Ennis and Rogelio “Porky” Medina. But Gonzalez-Ortiz then spent a decade out of the ring following the Medina fight, inactive from May 2014 until his return in March 2024.

In his two fights last year, Gonzalez-Ortiz knocked out the 5-23 Jose Saint-Hilaire Gil in two rounds and put away the 14-5 Edward Ulloa Diaz in seven rounds.

As for Omari Jones, who earned a bronze medal at welterweight in the 2024 Olympics, the 22-year-old’s first pro bout will come in front of his hometown crowd in Orlando.

Jones will face Alessio Mastronunzio, 14-5 (4 KOs), a 30-year-old from Italy. Mastronunzio has fought in the United States once before, suffering a first-round technical knockout to junior middleweight prospect Xander Zayas, who was 11-0 at the time of their December 2021 bout. Mastronunzio has won two in a row: an injury-shortened technical decision over an 8-2-2 foe last June and a points win over a 3-6-1 opponent in October.

Saturday, March 15: Amado Vargas vs. Eduardo Hernandez (DAZN)

The broadcast begins at 10 p.m. Eastern Time (2 a.m. GMT).

Vargas, 11-0 (5 KOs), is one of the fighting sons of Fernando Vargas. Amado is a 24-year-old born in Oxnard, California, and now living in Las Vegas. He has competed from featherweight to lightweight during his first four years as a pro. His last fight was in July, when he stopped the 7-0-1 Sean Garcia in six rounds. 

Vargas will headline at Thunder Studios in Long Beach, California, for this bout, which BoxRec lists as taking place in the junior welterweight division. 

Hernandez, 8-2 (5 KOs), is a 27-year-old from Mexico. He lost a decision last April to the 6-0 Enrique Escalona Tellez and has won three in a row since against foes with a combined record of 5-32-2.

Sunday, March 16: Callum Walsh vs. Dean Sutherland (UFC Fight Pass)

The broadcast begins at 6 p.m. Eastern Time (10 p.m. GMT).

This event, held at The Theater at Madison Square Garden on the day before St. Patrick’s Day, features Walsh and a number of other Irish fighters.

Walsh, 12-0 (10 KOs), is a 24-year-old junior middleweight prospect originally from Cork. Walsh lives these days in Hollywood, California, where he is trained by Freddie Roach. Walsh has been featured on cards timed with this holiday in 2022 in California, in 2023 in Boston, and last year at the Theater at Madison Square Garden, where he took out Dauren Yeleussinov in nine rounds. Since then, Walsh has notched a pair of second-round knockouts, taking out Carlos Ortiz Cervantes in June and Przemyslaw Runowski in September. 

Sutherland, 19-1 (7 KOs), is a 26-year-old from Aberdeen, Scotland. His lone loss came in November 2022, when he was stopped in five rounds by the 14-3 Louis Greene. Sutherland has notched six wins since.

David Greisman, who has covered boxing since 2004, is on Twitter @FightingWords2. David’s book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” is available on Amazon.