By Nick Skok

Former IBF minimumweight champion, Hiroto Kyoguchi, will be fighting on the 25th of September at the famed Korakuen Hall in Tokyo against undefeated Indonesian, Tibo Monabesa.

For Kyoguchi, it will be his first fight at the junior flyweight limit after having racked up a nice (10-0, 7 knockouts) record at the minimumweight level, including two successful title defenses of his IBF strap he won a year ago. Kyoguchi recently vacated his title to campaign at the higher weight. The ten round test will be  a nice introduction for Kyoguchi who hopes to earn his second division title by year’s end.

“I have no worries. I expect my reputation will go up after this fight.” said Kyoguchi at his press conference. Don’t let the inflated record fool you as the overmatched Monabesa (18-0-2, 8 knockouts) should provide good work for Kyoguchi ahead of such a chance.

Hekkie Budler, the WBA champion who defeated Kyoguchi’s stablemate this past Spring in a unification match, is one potential target. Watanabe-san, the gym president and promoter for Kyoguchi emphasized that any champion is fine when he said: “We’ll take any title opportunity amongst the four organizations.”

The grand plan is to keep Kyoguchi busy this September and then get that second division title in a major fight this New Year’s Eve- the biggest fight date in Japan. Kyoguchi later stated that he’d like to move up to flyweight before too long, meaning his sights are on quickly becoming a three-division champion. An ambitious plan to be sure, but not out of the realm of possibilities by any stretch of the imagination.

To prepare for his upcoming bout, Kyoguchi has been sparring with Sho Kimura. Kimura is the WBO flyweight champion and is also preparing for a fight of his own that will take place the day before the Kyoguchi tilt. For Kimura, he’ll have his hands full with Kosei Tanaka on the 24th in Nagoya.

It will be an exciting start to the week for Japanese boxing fans with the Monday and Tuesday action. Who needs Monday Night Football?

Contact and Follow the author on Twitter @NoSparring