This is a solid comeback fight for Tanaka where if hes regressed to far he can lose and would likely retire. Hes coming off a loss in a world title fight where he went the distance but decisively lost on the scorecards. Yuni Takada is only 22 but has already fought 15 times where they have a mixed record of 8-5-2 against domestic opponents.
Norihito Tanaka is tough and has a good chin along with solid stamina. Hes technically quite good though doesn’t quite make it when he steps up all the way. Almost all of his losses have come to very good fighters and its worth noting that when he steps down to this sort of domestic level he normally performs well and wins. The only real questions at this point is how much he has left at the age of 35 especially in a division like minimum weight where 29 or 30 are considered old.
Yuni Takada doesn’t have as much experience as Tanaka and isn’t quite as technically good as him but they have youth on their side. In Takada’s last fight they showed good pressure on the front foot and were unlucky not to get the decision in my opinion. That would have been a very good win and set them up for a Japanese title fight so its a shame they didn’t get the decision. I think Takada has decent power and is clearly improving as they have more fights in their career.
I’m going to pick the underdog Takada here because its only over eight rounds and I think with their aggressive style they can take enough rounds off the older Tanaka to win a decision. Every fighter has to fall off eventually and I think its very possible the youth and aggressiveness of Takada will be too much for Tanaka in this fight.
Boxing Fulcrum 