The Japan Professional Boxing Association (Chairman Shoji Kobayashi) announced on the 29th the following matchups that have been finalized to date for the “2026 Champion Carnival: Strongest Challenger Determination Tournament.”
S・フェザー級は開催中のフェニックスバトルトーナメント優勝者にカーニバル出場権
■Minimumweight: Masatora Okada (Kadoebi Jewel) vs. Issa Sakata (S&K)
■Light Flyweight: TBD
■Flyweight: Ryo Sakai (Hatanaka) vs. Isse Hirota (Morishita)
■Super Flyweight: Kantaro Jyuri (Shisei) vs. Ryusei Baba (EBISU K’s BOX)
■Bantamweight: Sento Ito (Shinsei) vs. Towa Tsuji (KWORLD3)
■Super Bantamweight: Katsuya Fukui (Teiken) vs. Kaito Yamazaki (Rokushima)
■Featherweight: Kaishu Harada (Mitsuki) vs. Junya Shimada (Shisei)
■Super Featherweight: Phoenix Battle Super Featherweight Tournament
■Lightweight: To Be Announced
■Super Lightweight: Kotaro Sekine (Watanabe) vs. Shota Tashita (Takumi)
■Welterweight: Takafumi Shibata (Green Tsuda) vs. Takahiko Kobayashi (Ichiriki)
■Super Welterweight: Rikuto Adachi (Ohashi) vs. Masaya Tamayama (Teiken)
■Middleweight: Issei Aramoto (Teiken) vs. Ryusei Kurobe (World Sports)
*The fighter on the left is the higher-ranked contender.
The “Strongest Challenger Tournament” is a regular event held by the association in which top-ranked fighters in each weight class compete for the right to participate in next spring’s Champion Carnival (and challenge for the Japanese title).
This time, the winner of the Super Featherweight Prize Money Tournament will earn the right to challenge at the Carnival. That tournament, in which all ranked Super Featherweight fighters are participating, has been underway for a year. Following the semifinals in September, the final scheduled for December will also serve as the “Strongest Challenger Tournament.”
Another major talking point is the participation of Ito, the WBO Asia-Pacific champion in the bantamweight division. This adds even more pressure on Ito to win his first title defense (September 5, vs. Vilalosa).
