By Jake Donovan



Toshiaki Nishioka and Rafael Marquez both made weight for their 122 lb. title fight, scheduled for Saturday night at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. That both fighters came within the contracted limit was an anomaly on a Friday evening where four undercard fighters missed weight.



Nishioka weighed in at the division limit of 122 lb; Marquez was slightly under at 121 lb.



The bout will mark the first trip to the United States in five years for Nishioka (38-4-3, 24KO), who makes the seventh defense of the 122 lb. belt he acquired three years ago. The streaking Japanese southpaw is in the midst of a seven-year, 15-fight unbeaten streak.



Marquez (40-6, 35KO) comes in at his lightest weight in more than three years, since his epic third bout with in-ring rival Israel Vazquez in March ’08, which garnered Fight of the Year honors. Marquez dropped a split decision that night, suffering a last-second knockdown to deny him the chance to regain the lineal super bantamweight crown.



The fight airs live on Fox Deportes, headlining a special three-hour edition of Top Rank Live that goes on the air at 9PM ET/6PM local time.



Whether or not the undercard holds up depends on how close some of its key players come to hitting the contracted weight limits to which they agreed.



Junior flyweight titlist Roman “Chocolalito” Gonzalez (29-0, 24KO) makes his stateside debut as well as his first appearance in front of American TV cameras in the evening’s co-feature. Whether or not his alphabet belt will be on the line is a mystery at the moment.



Gonzalez did his part, coming in at the division limit of 108. The same cannot be said of his opponent Omar Soto (22-7-2, 15KO) a career flyweight who must’ve not realized that the bout was taking place one division north.



The Mexican contender came in a full weight class above the limit at 112 lb. He has two hours to lose the weight, though the most likely result is that it becomes downgraded to a non-title fight and Gonzalez remains champion – win, lose or draw. Boxingscene.com reporter Ryan Burton was informed by Soto’s handlers that he is already dried and out and most likely will not be able to lose more than one-half pound.



Undefeated welterweight prospect Yoshihiro Kamegai makes his stateside debut, though it’s possible that his televised opener could be in jeopardy. He was originally slated to face divisional gatekeeper Jesus Soto Karass, who was forced to withdraw after suffering an injury earlier this week.



In came Hector Munoz, a career journeyman who accepted assignment on short notice. So short, that he was not only unable to squeeze down to the 147 lb. limit in time for the weigh-in, but reportedly won’t make weight at all. Munoz came in at 149 lb, and his handlers informed Top Rank that he can only lose one more pound.



Local prospect Jesse Magdaleno has a big decision to make after his opponent, Isaac Hidalgo came in nearly two divisions heavier for their six-round swing bout. Magdaleno (5-0, 3KO) came in at the contracted limit of 122 lb. The 22-year old Hidalgo (8-7-2, 1KO) - who hails from Tucson, Arizona – wasn’t even close, clocking in at a near-career high 128 lb. Hidalgo has two hours to come as close as possible to the 122 lb limit.



Another local fighter, southpaw Anthony Lenk is in jeopardy of not playing in front of the home crowd after coming in two pounds heavyweight for his six-round junior welterweight bout with Winston Mathis. Lenk (12-1, 6KO) checked in at 146 lb, while Mathis (7-4-1, 2KO) came just under at 143 lb.



Other results:


Christopher Martin and Jose Angel Beranza came in at 124 lb. for their six-round featherweight bout. Martin (23-0-2, 6KO) makes his Top Rank debut; Beranza (33-21-2, 26KO) has lost three straight.



Carlos Linares (8-1-1, 7KO) and Kevin Riding-In (3-2-1, 0KO) both weighed 161 lb. for their scheduled six-round middleweight bout.



Undefeated Japanese super middleweight prospect Hirimitsu Miara (7-0, 3KO) weighed 170 lb, same as opponent Hector Hernandez (10-4-2, 4KO) for their six-round swing bout.



Doors open at 4:00PM local time, with the non-televised portion of the show set to begin shortly thereafter. The show is presented by Top Rank Inc. and Teiken Promotions.



Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of Boxingscene.com. Follow Jake on Twitter at twitter.com/JakeNDaBox or submit questions/comments to JakeNDaBox@gmail.com.