This is a good fight for the Japanese Lightweight title between long time domestic champion Yoshino (13-0 with 9 knockouts) and super featherweight domestic contender Nakazato (10-1-3 with seven knockouts). Shuichiro Yoshino has taken on a host of domestic talent in Japan and has come out on top in all of his fights. If he beats Nakazato he should really be looking towards testing the waters at fringe world level as he doesn’t have anything left to prove on the domestic Japanese scene. For Shuma Nakazato this is a big opportunity to propel himself to the top of the domestic lightweight scene and also claim his first professional title.
Shuichiro Yoshino is a boxer-puncher who has shown a range of skills which make him very versatile. If he needs to he can use his boxing skill and counter punch on the back foot but can also use his power punching skills to aggressively fight his opponents and in some cases score come from behind wins. He’s shown some devastating power at the weight and with his boxing skill to back it up hes an interesting addition to the stacked lightweight division.
Shuma Nakazato is also a boxer-puncher but with him moving up in weight, his power won’t be as effective and I think he’ll be heavily out gunned in this fight. He can box and move fairly well so early on the fight should be competitive. He isn’t the finished package as a fighter yet and has enough flaws that it’s obvious hes still developing but win or lose this fight should help with that.
I expect Yoshino to win by knockout due to his devastating power and experience gained from both his hard professional fights and his amateur background. Early on the fight will be competitive but when Yoshino turns it up a level I think Nakazato will struggle and come apart under the barrage of heavy punches from Yoshino.
Boxing Fulcrum 