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Mike CoppingerESPN
The three-belt junior flyweight unification bout between Kenshiro Teraji and Jonathan Gonzalez on April 8 in Tokyo will be streamed live on ESPN+ in the U.S., Top Rank Boxing announced Tuesday.
Teraji, ESPN’s No. 1 junior flyweight, holds the WBA and WBC titles at 108 pounds; Gonzalez. ranked No. 2 by ESPN, holds the WBO belt.
Teraji (20-1, 12 KOs) unified the titles with a seventh-round TKO of Hiroto Kyoguchi in November, a career-best win. All of Teraji’s fights have taken place in his native Japan. He made eight titles defenses during his first title run before he was stopped by Masamichi Yabuki in 2021. Teraji, 31, avenged that loss and regained the title in an immediate rematch.
Gonzalez (27-3-1, 14 KOs), 31, won his title with an upset split-decision victory over Elwin Soto in 2021. The first title victory of his career followed a failed title bid in Japan against Kosei Tanaka in 2019 at 112 pounds. Gonzalez fights out of Puerto Rico.
On the undercard, Naoya Inoue’s brother, Takuma Inoue, will meet Liborio Solis for the vacant WBA bantamweight title. The 118-pound belt is one of the four titles Naoya Inoue vacated last month ahead of a May showdown with 122-pound champion Stephen Fulton in May in Japan.
Takuma Inoue (17-1, 4 KOs) was defeated by Nordine Oubaali in his previous title opportunity. Inoue has won four consecutive bouts since the 2019 setback.
Solis (35-6-1, 16 KOs) has lost all three of his title challenges, including a 2020 defeat to Guillermo Rigondeaux. The 40-year-old, who fights out of Panama City, also lost title fights against Jamie McDonnell and Shinsuke Yamanaka.
Also on the undercard: Japanese kickboxing star Tenshin Nasukawa will make his professional boxing debut against Yuki Yonaha in a six-round 122-pound bout. Nasukawa was involved in a boxing exhibition with Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2018.