Kenshiro Teraji and Anthony Olascuaga were well under the junior flyweight limit for their upcoming championship clash. photo credit: Naoki Fukuda

In fact, Olascuaga was at his career lightest as he weighed 106.9 pounds (announced as 48.5 kilograms)—a full pound below the 108-pound divisional limit. Teraji tipped the scales at a fit and trim 107.1 pounds (48.6 kg) as he aims to defend the lineal, WBA and WBC junior flyweight championship atop an ESPN+ telecast from Ariake Arena in Tokyo (Saturday, 3:00 a.m. ET).

Teraji (20-1, 12KOs) was roughly the same weight for his previous outing, a seventh-round knockout of unbeaten countryman Hiroto Kyoguchi to unify the WBC and WBA 108-pound titles last November 1 in Saitama, Japan. The career-best performance by the 31-year-old Kyoto native followed his WBC title-regaining third-round knockout of Masamichi Yabuki last March 19 to avenge his lone defeat in a September 2021 tenth-round knockout to Yabuki.

Overall, the bout will mark Teraji’s 13th consecutive title fight.

Olascuaga (5-0, 3KOs) fights for his first major title in an opportunity that came on very short notice.

The 24-year-old Los Angeles native—who turned pro in September 2020—was due to appear on an April 15 show in Osaka when he agreed to face Teraji on what will be just ten days’ notice. The need for a new opponent arose when WBO titlist Jonathan ‘Bomba’ Gonzalez had to shut down training camp after being diagnosed with pneumonia.

The evening’s lone other title fight pits Yokohama’s Takuma Inoue and former junior bantamweight titlist Liborio Solis with the vacant WBA bantamweight belt at stake.

Inoue was right at the 118-pound limit (53.5 kg.) for his second attempted title bid. Venezuela’s Solis (35-6-1, 16KOs) was 117 ¼ pounds, his lightest weight in nearly a decade.

The belt became available when Naoya Inoue, Takuma’s older brother, abandoned his undisputed championship reign in January to compete at junior featherweight. Takuma Inoue (17-1, 4KOs) enters his second title fight riding a four-fight win streak since a November 2019 loss to then-unbeaten WBC bantamweight titlist Nordine Oubaali.

Also on the show:

Tenshin Nasukawa (pro debut), Tokyo, 122 pounds (55.3 kg.) vs. Yuki Yonaha (12-4-1, 8KOs), Hyogo, Japan, 121 ¾ pounds (55.2 kg.)—6 rounds, junior featherweight

Reiya Abe (24-3-1, 10KOs), Kanagawa, Japan, 125 ¾ pounds (57 kg.) vs, Kiko Martinez (44-11-2, 31KOs), Alicante, Spain, 125 ¼ pounds (56.8 kg.)—12 rounds, IBF featherweight title eliminator

Keita Obara (26-4-1, 23KOs), Tokyo, 146.6 pounds (66.5 kg.) vs. Jin Sasaki (14-1-1, 13KOs), Tokyo, 146 ¼ pounds (66.4 kg.)—12 rounds, welterweight

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for krikya360.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox