Kenshiro Teraji vs. Carlos Cañizales in Japan
By Rubén Darío Sánchez / Photo: Naoki Fukuda
Kenshiro Teraji will defend the his WBA light-flyweight belt next Tuesday, January 23 against the complicated Venezuelan and former world champion, Carlos Cañizales.
The bout agreed in the 48 Kgs category for 12 rounds will be the co-featured fight of the event that will star the undefeated Ukrainian Artem Dalakian (22-0) against the Japanese Seigo Yuri Akui (18-2-1) for the WBA flyweight belt. The fight will take place at the EDIO Arena, Osaka, Japan. In addition, it will be streamed live on Amazon Prime.
Kenshiro Teraji, born in Kyoto, Japan, will face his fourth defense and it will be his 15th world title fight. During 2023 he stepped into the ring twice, at the beginning of the year he defeated Anthony Olascuaga (6-1) by knockout in the ninth round.
His last fight was last September when he defeated South African Hekkie Budler (35-5) by knockout in the ninth round. It should be noted that he had planned to unify the division against Jonathan Gonzalez but the fight was suspended due to physical problems of the Puerto Rican.
Teraji (22-1, 14 KO), 31 years old, accumulates a knockout power above 60%. He also has a streak of five wins in a row by the fast track.
Carlos Antonio Cañizales, from Caracas and considered the face of boxing in Venezuela, will return to the ring after seeing little action during 2023. His last fight was against Cuban Daniel Matellon (13-1-2), in which the Venezuelan snatched Matellon’s undefeated record by knockout in the eighth round in the ¨KO Drugs¨ event.
Cañizales was world champion in 2019, when he defeated Japanese Sho Kimura (19-3-4) by unanimous decision in China. However, two years later, in May 2021 he would fall by knockout to Mexican, Esteban Bermudez to lose the WBA world title.
Carlos (26-1-1, 19 KO), 30 years old, has an interesting knockout power above 70%. In addition, he accumulates a win streak of four fights, only one of which came by decision and one loss in his most recent five bouts.