IBF bantamweight champion Ryosuke Nishida, who has been inactive since overcoming serious facial injuries to defeat Emmanuel Rodriguez in May, is set to defend his title for the first time on December 15th against Thailand’s Anuchai Donsua.
Donsua (16-0, 7 KO) is ranked no. 14 in the IBF rankings and has a typical Thai fighting record; four of his victories, including his most recent one, came against debut fighters and he has only defeated two opponents with winning records. Nishida (9-0, 1 KO), on the other hand, is a skilled fighter who has notable wins over Daigo Higa and Rodriguez.
Nishida has expressed interest in facing Junto Nakatani early next year, especially with Nakatani’s chances of facing Inoue dashed after Takuma Inoue’s recent loss. However, Julius Julianis believes that Nishida fighting under Kameda Promotions could complicate a potential unification fight with anyone other than Seiya Tsutsumi.
In an evenly matched battle, 24-year-old light flyweight contender Thanongsak Simsri (36-1, 33 KO) will take on former minimumweight champion Masataka Taniguchi (19-4, 13 KO). Simsri’s only defeat prior to this fight was against Masamichi Yabuki in 2022.
Lastly, Riku Kunimoto (12-1, 6 KO) will seek redemption in a middleweight clash against Kazuto Takesako (17-2-1, 15 KO) as he looks to avenge his only career loss.
