World Boxing Organization female light flyweight champion Tsunami Tenkai of Yamaki Boxing Gym will put her title on the line against Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation ruler Shione Ogata of Neyagawa Ishida Boxing Club on Apr. 4 in Osaka, western Japan, both boxers said on March 5 via an online press conference.

The scheduled 10-rounder will be staged at the Sakai City Industrial Promotion Center’s event hall.
It will be the 36-year-old Tenkai’s third defense of the title she won by beating Chaoz Minowa of Watanabe Boxing Gym in March 2018.

While Tenkai did not have a chance to fight in 2020 due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, she brushed it aside by saying, ‘’I have had similar experiences many times in the past. So, it will not affect me at all.’’
Commenting on Ogata, Tenkai said, ‘’She is a speedy boxer with good footwork. But I will show the difference of class between us because I have a confidence in what I have done up to now.’’

For her part, Ogata, 32, became the OPBF champion slowly and painfully and said, ‘’Anything can happen in boxing,’’ citing the gym’s head Nobuhiro Ishida’s surprise victory in 2011 when he stopped highly touted hard puncher James Kirkland of the United States in the first round in Nevada.

Tenkai has a record of 27 wins, including 16 KOs, against 12 losses and a draw, while Ogata has an 11-6-1 win-loss-draw tally with three KOs.