WBO flyweight champion Kosei Tanaka is returning to the same venue he won the title for his next fight.
In a press conference in Japan, it was announced that Tanaka will defend his title against mandatory challenger Jonathan Gonzalez on August 24 at the Takeda Teva Ocean Arena in Nagoya. The announcement was made on the same day that a purse bid ordered by the WBO was supposed to take place.
Tanaka has held the WBO title at 112 pounds since that win over Kimura last year. That fight, which was Fightful boxing's "Fight of the Year" for 2018, saw Tanaka win by majority decision to become a three-division champion. Since that win over Kimura, Tanaka has made just one defense of the title, a unanimous decision win over Ryoichi Taguchi back in March. The 23-year-old Tanaka has also previously held the WBO world title at both minimumweight and light flyweight.
Gonzalez, a 28-year-old fighter from Puerto Rico, has held the WBO-NABO title since February 2018 when he won a split decision against Ricardo Rodriguez. Gonzalez currently sits at No. 1 in the WBO flyweight rankings and is on a four-fight win streak, last fighting this past November when he scored a TKO win over former title challenger Juan Alejo.
Though no plans for the fight being broadcast worldwide was announced, CBC will handle the broadcast duties in Japan. Tanaka's last two fights, both broadcast by CBC, were made available to watch live, worldwide for free through a collaboration with Asian Boxing.
