It was announced on Friday by the Shinsei Gym that Japan's undefeated prospect Shun Kubo (11-0, 8 KOs) will take on WBA "regular" super bantamweight champion Nehomar Cermeno at Osaka's Edion Arena on April 9.

Kubo, who retained his Oriental-Pacific title in November, is ranked ninth by the WBA. The 37-year-old Cermeno has a record of 26 wins (15 KOs) five losses and one draw.

Hopes are being pinned on Kubo following in the footsteps of stablemate Hozumi Hasegawa, a former world champion in three different weight divisions who retired in December.

26-year-old Kubo turned pro in May of 2013 and fought nearly every fight of his career at the Central Gym in Kobe.

He saw action twice in 2016, winning a decision over Benjie Suganob in May and then stopping Jin Wook Lim in November. Kubo captured the vacant OPBF super bantamweight belt in December 2015 with a knockout of Lloyd Jardeliza.

After only winning one out of seven fights from March 2010 to April 2012, Cermeno has made quite a career comeback in the last few years. And he's been rebuilding his career on the road. His last three fights took place in China, and over the years he's traveled to nearly every corner of the globe to fight.

He saw action four times in 2016 - three fights in China and once in El Salvador.

At the start of the year, Cermeno won a decision over Lester Medrano. Then in June he stopped XiaoJun Qiu to capture the vacant WBA "regular" super bantamweight belt in Beijing. He then retained the title in September with a stoppage over undefeated Anurak Thisa in Wenzhou. He closed out the year with a unanimous decision victory in December over XiaoJun Qiu.

A few months ago there was loose talk of Cermeno heading over to the UK to fight a comebacking Scott Quigg. Those plans were dashed when Quigg decided to move up to the featherweight division.