Reiya Abe: record, next fight and profile →
Alberto Luis “Venado” Lopez (29-2) is currently training for his March 2nd showdown against Reiya Abe (25-3-1). The fight against Abe, who is his mandatory challenger, will be Lopez’s third defense of his IBF featherweight title.
A featherweight doubleheader is in store for the first quarter of the new year. BoxingScene.com has confirmed that the IBF and WBA featherweight titles will be at stake in separate bouts as part of a March 2 ESPN telecast. Luis Alberto Lopez will attempt the third defense of his IBF belt versus mandatory challenger Reiya Abe, while Otabek Kholmatov and Raymond Ford vie for the now vacant WBA strap.
Reiya Abe picked up the biggest win of his career to land in the featherweight title picture. A terrific boxing performance exhibited by the resurgent contender was enough to soundly outpoint former two-division titlist Kiko Martinez. Judges Robert Hoyle (117-111), Don Trella (119-109) and Steve Weisfeld (119-109) were unanimous in scoring for Abe in their IBF featherweight title eliminator Saturday at Ariake Arena in Tokyo.
Kenshiro Teraji and Anthony Olascuaga were well under the junior flyweight limit for their upcoming championship clash. In fact, Olascuaga was at his career lightest as he weighed 106.9 pounds (announced as 48.5 kilograms)—a full pound below the 108-pound divisional limit. Teraji tipped the scales at a fit and trim 107.1 pounds (48.6 kg) as he aims to defend the lineal, WBA and WBC junior flyweight championship atop an ESPN+ telecast from Ariake Arena in Tokyo (Saturday, 3:00 a.m. ET).
The show goes on. WBC/WBA light flyweight world champion Kenshiro “The Amazing Boy” Teraji was supposed to face WBO champ Jonathan Gonzalez in a three-belt unification tilt Saturday, April 8, at Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan. Gonzalez withdrew with an illness, and Teraji will now defend his titles against undefeated American challenger Anthony Olascuaga
WBC/WBA champion Kenshiro “The Amazing Boy” Teraji and WBO champ Jonathan “La Bomba” Gonzalez will collide in a 12-round battle that will put one man closer to becoming the division’s undisputed king.
Naoya Inoue is done with the bantamweight division but at least one title could wind up back in his family. A press conference held Monday afternoon (local time) in Tokyo confirmed a second title fight and the full lineup for a blockbuster April 8 show at Ariake Arena. Takuma Inoue, Naoya’s younger brother, will face former WBA junior