Junto Nakatani’s July 20th WBC bantamweight title defense against mandatory challenger Vincent Astrolabio is now the top of a title tripleheader, as Kosei Tanaka will defend his WBO super flyweight belt against Jonathan Rodriguez and Riku Kano will battle Anthony Olascuaga for the vacant WBO flyweight belt formerly held by Jesse Rodriguez.
All three bouts, plus kickboxing superstar Tenshin Nasukawa’s (3-0, 1 KO) clash with a different Jonathan Rodriguez (17-2-1, 7 KO), air on ESPN+. You’ll recall this Rodriguez from last year’s euthanasia of Kal Yafai.
Three years after a nasty knockout loss to Kazuto Ioka halted his four-weight campaign in its tracks, Tanaka (20-1, 11 KO) finally achieved his goal by outclassing Christian Bacasegua Rangel for the vacant belt in February. The 28-year-old remains among the fan-friendliest fighters in an extremely watchable division, but will have to settle for a less glamorous summer foe than his fellow titlists. “Titan” Rodriguez (25-2-1, 17 KO) is best known for his gnarly 2021 war with Jerwin Ancajas, since which he’s picked up three wins and a draw with longtime division tough guy Israel Gonzalez.
Good chance this one steals the show.
Once stuck on a 3-3 skid, Kano (22-4-2, 11 KO) now finds himself on a 10-fight unbeaten streak, though not against any opponents of note. Olascuaga (6-1, 4 KO), on the other hand, made his name with a heroic losing effort against Kenshiro Teraji on short notice before scoring a comeback knockout of Giemel Magramo last September.