WBA junior flyweight champion Hiroto Kyoguchi 14-0 (9) is planning to dominate the 108-pound division once he gets past WBA number 10 ranked contender Axel Vega 14-3-1 (8) at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas on Saturday night.
The fight will take place on the undercard of the highly-anticipated super flyweight unification clash between WBC champion Juan Francisco Estrada 41-3 (28) of Mexico and WBA counterpart Roman ‘Chocolatito’ Gonzalez 50-2 (41) of Nicaragua.
The 27-year-old Kyoguchi of Japan will be making his US debut but it is not the first time he has fought on the road. The new Matchroom Boxing signing has previously defeated then-world champion Hekkie Budler 32-4 (10) of South Africa in Macao by 10th round knockout in December 2018 and had his second pro fight in Thailand.
Kyoguchi wants to steal the show from the headline act and create a groundswell of support for unification bouts with WBC champion Kenshiro ‘The Amazing Boy’ Teraji 17-0 (10) of Japan, IBF boss Felix ‘El Gemelo’ Alvarado 36-2 (31) of Nicaragua and WBO kingpin Elwin Soto 18-1 (12) of Mexico.
“As long as I can stay at 108 pounds, I want to show that I am the best in this division and to dominate it,” Kyoguchi said. “But eventually my goal is to move up the weights and win more belts.
“I became a world champion in Japan and after that, I always wanted to come to the US to fight. This is a very big moment for my career, and I want to make a big statement. The fans can expect a really entertaining fight with Vega.
“It’s an honour for me to fight for Matchroom as their first Japanese fighter. I am going to represent my country to show how great Japanese boxing is.
“The whole situation last year makes training very hard for me, it was hard to handle. This time, I have this big opportunity and I want to show a big performance for my fans. The coronavirus has created a special situation for everyone. It’s hard to adjust to that but Matchroom have made it easy in the bubble, so thanks to them I can make weight well.
“I have seen some tape of Axel, he’s a very good fighter. I’m already a world champion so from now on I want to show everyone that I am one of the best fighters in the world, and that starts on Saturday against Vega.”
The undefeated Kyoguchi, who is also The Ring Magazine champion, won his first world championship in just his eighth pro fight when he defeated IBF minimumweight titleholder Jose Argumedo 23-4-1 (14) of Mexico by unanimous decision in July 2017.
He made two successful title defences against Carlos Buitrago 32-6-1 (18) of Nicaragua by eighth-round knockout and Filipino Vince Paras15-2 (13) before moving up in weight in September 2018.
