Top Rank Promotions presents a World Championship Doubleheader on ESPN+ (live online streaming service) with Masayuki Ito vs. Evgeny Chuprakov and Ken Shiro vs. Saul Juarez defending their titles in front of a packed Japanese crowd on December 30th.
WBO 130 lbs world champion Masayuki Ito (24-1-1, 12 KOs) of Tokyo, Japan will defend his title against tough undefeated Russian challenger Evgeny Chuprakov (20-0, 10 KOs) in the main event.
Ito, 27, pulled of an upset win in July of 2018, when he traveled abroad to make his US debut and fight for the vacant WBO super featherweight world title. In the fight he was able to outbox Puerto Rican Christopher Diaz and capture the strap, he will now head back to his homeland to defend the belt for the first time in front of adoring fans.
Chuprakov, 28, will now be in the same position Ito was last July, and try to pull off an upset on foreign ground. The undefeated Russian will need to utilize the perfect game plan to go home with the victory and the belt.
The 26-year-old Ken Shiro (14-0, 8 KOs) of Uji, Kyoto, Japan won the WBC light flyweight world title in his tenth pro fight against Mexican veteran Ganigan Lopez and has defended it four times, three by stoppage.
Tonight “The Amazing Boy” Shiro will take on another cagey Mexican boxer Saul Juarez (24-8-2, 13 KOs) in the co-main event of the ESPN+ live streaming broadcast.
December 30 Fight Card
WBO Super Featherweight Championship – Masayuki Ito (Champ) vs. Evgeny Chuprakov
WBC Light Flyweight Championship – Ken Shiro (Champ) vs. Saul Juarez
Bantamweight – Takuma Inoue vs. Tasana Salapat
Minimumweight – Shuri Hasebe vs. Yoshimitsu Kushibe
Lightweight – Hyoga Taniguchi vs. Tetsuya Kondo
The Ito vs. Chuprakov Top Rank fight card airs on Sunday, December 30, 2018 at Ota-City General Gymnasium in Tokyo, Japan and will be live streamed in the United States on ESPN+, at 5:00 AM EST, and shown in Japan on FUJI TV.
