Former World Boxing Council flyweight champion Daigo Higa of Shisei Boxing Gym and his stablemate Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation featherweight champion Hayato Tsutsumi will have their10-round nontitle fights respectively with world-ranked opponents on Dec. 31 at Tokyo’s Ota City General Gymnasium, the gym said on Dec. 20.

  World Boxing Association super flyweight champion Kazuto Ioka of the gym is also likely to have a fight on New Year’s Eve, although his opponent has not yet been decided, according to gym officials.

  If Ioka’s fight has been decided, it will be the 34-year-old Ioka’s sixth straight New Year’s Eve fight and his 12th overall.

  The 28-year-old Higa, currently ranked fifth by the World Boxing Organization, seventh by the WBA, 12^th by the International Boxing Federation and 14^th by the WBC, will take on Navapon Khaikanha of Thailand, the WBC’s ninth-ranked bantamweight.

  Higa told reporters at the gym, ‘’I want to knock him out without much ado so that I can take a crack at a world title of any sanctioning body.’’

  Higa has a record of 20 wins, including 18 knockouts, against two losses and a draw. The 32-year-old Navapon has a 58-3-1 win-loss-draw tally with 48 KOs.

  Meanwhile, the 24-year-old Tsutsumi will face Luis Moncion Ventura of the Dominican Republic, who is ranked 15th in the featherweight division by the WBA.

  While Tsutsumi was expected to face Ventura on Oct. 13 in Tokyo, the fight was cancelled on the day before the fight as Tsutsumi was found to be suffering from the flue.

  Tsutsumi said, ‘’First of all, I have to apologize to my opponent for the cancellation. I consider the upcoming fight as a kind of fight which can measure my present ability. I want to face higher-ranked boxers next year.’’

  Tsutsumi, a highly touted former amateur star, has three-straight wins after turning pro in July last year. For this part, the 25-year-old Ventura is undefeated in his 11 bouts, nine by KO.