While the United States and the United Kingdom won't be hosting any major boxing shows for the remainder of 2018, Japan is getting ready to host one of the biggest events in the sport of the year.
The traditional New Year's Eve show Japan has will actually take place on December 30 at the Ota-City General Gymnasium in Tokyo. The card will feature three world title fights, all involving top Japanese stars in action.
In the main event, Masayuki Ito will defend his WBO super featherweight title against mandatory challenger Evgeny Chuprakov. Also in action is WBC light flyweight champion Ken Shiro and Takuma Inoue fighting for the vacant interim WBC bantamweight title.
But before all the big fights get underway, the fighters have to make weight. Below are the official weights for all three title fights.
WBO super featherweight title (130-pound limit):
- Masayuki Ito: 130 lbs.
- Evgeny Chuprakov: 129 1/4 lbs.
Interim WBC bantamweight title (118-pound limit):
- Takuma Inoue: 118 lbs.
- Petch Sor Chitpattana: 118 lbs.
WBC light flyweight title (108-pound limit):
- Ken Shiro: 107.5 lbs.
- Saul Juarez: 108 lbs.
For boxing fans in the United States, ESPN+ will have a live stream for the event starting at 5:15 a.m. ET. The only fights that are confirmed to take place on the stream are Ito vs. Chuprakov and Inoue vs. Sor Chitpattana. As for Shiro vs. Juarez, that fight's availability to be a part if the stream depends on if there will be enough time remaining to air the title bout.