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Kenshiro Teraji vs. Hekkie Budler & Junto Nakatani vs.
Argi Cortes World Title Doubleheader Sept. 18
Japan’s unified WBC/WBA light flyweight world champion
Kenshiro Teraji will defend his titles against South African
two-division world champion Hekkie Budler on Monday,
September 18, at Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan.
In the co-feature, undefeated Japanese southpaw Junto
Nakatani makes the first defense of his WBO junior
bantamweight world title against Mexican contender Argi
Cortes.
Teraji-Budler, Nakatani-Cortes and additional undercard
bouts will stream live and exclusively in the U.S. in the
early morning hours on ESPN+.
Teraji (21-1, 13 KOs) earned his first world title by
defeating Ganigan Lopez for the WBC 108-pound strap in May
2018. He made eight defenses before losing the belt via
10th-round TKO against Masamichi Yabuki in September 2021.
The 31-year-old avenged his lone defeat by stopping Yabuki
in the third round of their March 2022 rematch to regain the
title. Teraji then stopped Hiroto Kyoguchi last November in
the seventh round to unify the WBC and WBA titles. He
defended his unified championship with a ninth-round TKO
against then-unbeaten contender Anthony Olascuaga in April.
Budler (35-4, 11 KOs) captured the WBA minimumweight world
title with a first-round knockout win against Karluis Diaz
in March 2014. He made four defenses before losing the belt
to Byron Rojas in March 2016. Two years later, he decisioned
Ryoichi Taguchi to capture the WBA and IBF light flyweight
titles. He vacated his IBF strap and lost the WBA title in
his first defense, a 10th-round TKO loss to Hiroto Kyguchi
in December 2018. The 35-year-old veteran is 3-0 since
losing his title, including a decision win over former WBO
champ Elwin Soto.
Nakatani (25-0, 19 KOs) won the vacant WBO flyweight world
title in November 2020 with an eighth-round knockout against
Giemel Magramo. He defended it twice, defeating Angel Acosta
in four rounds and knocking out Ryota Yamauchi in eight. He
moved up to junior bantamweight and captured the WBO crown
with a highlight-reel knockout against former WBA champ
Andrew Moloney in May. Cortes (25-3-2, 10 KOs) is a
nine-year pro who nearly upset Juan Francisco Estrada in a
fiercely-contested September 2022 showdown. Cortes is coming
off a 10-round majority decision win over Adolfo Castillo
Gonzalez in March.
In other streaming action from Tokyo:
Former multi-division kickboxing world champion Tenshin
Nasukawa (1-0) will return in an eight-round Junior
featherweight battle against undefeated Mexican Juan Flores
Aceves (9-0, 7 KOs). Nasukawa made his pro boxing debut in
April with a six-round decision win over Yuki Yonaha, while
Aceves is coming off an eighth-round TKO against
then-unbeaten Adolfo Perez Lopez in June.
Anthony Olascuaga (5-1, 3 KOs), from Los Angeles, looks to
bounce back from his defeat to Teraji in an eight-round
light flyweight battle against Filipino former world title
challenger Giemel Magramo (28-3, 23 KOs).
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