The Phoenix Promotion led by Hideyuki Ohashi, the head of Ohashi Boxing Gym, said on Dec. 6 it will launch a tournament that will decide the strongest Asian boxer in Japan starting next April.

  According to the promotion, the tournament is regarded as a stepping stone to a world title challenge and will start with the lightweight division. The winner of the tournament will receive 5 million yen (about 34,000 dollars).

  As for the purse, the Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation champion will get 1.5 million yen for a fight along with the World Boxing Organization’s Asia-Pacific champion. The Japanese champion and world-ranked boxers will each receive the purse of 1 million yen for a fight.

Boxers ranked among the top three in the Japanese rankings will each get 500,000 yen for a fight and those boxers ranked between the fourth and the seventh will each receive the purse of 400,000 yen. Those ranked among the last eight in the rankings will get the purse of 300,000 yen, respectively.

  The preliminary round will be held on Apr. 25 with the knockout award of 200,000 yen, semifinals on July 18 with the KO award of 300,000 yen with the final scheduled on Nov. 22 with the KO award of 500,000 yen.