By Jake Donovan
Top-rated bantamweight Shinsuke Yamanaka will return to the ring October 22 in a title defense versus former 115 lb. champ Suriyan Sor Rungvisai in Tokyo, Teiken Promotions announced Wednesday evening.
The bout is slated to take place at Yoyogi #2 Gymnasium, where Yamanaka's title reign first began with an 11th round knockout of Christian Esquivil in Nov. '11. Six successful defenses have followed, including a 9th round stoppage of Stephan Jamoye in his most recent ring appearance in April.
Yamanaka (21-0-2, 16KOs) has scored knockouts in all but one title fight dating back to the aforementioned win over Equisivil. The only oppone to last the distance versus the unbeaten southpaw is former two-division champ Vic Darchinyan, who dropped a competitive but clear decision in Yamanaka's first title defense in April '12.
Sor Rungvisai (37-5-1, 16KOs) previously served as a 115 lb. titlist, with the title win coming 18 months after pushing then-lineal flyweight king Pongsaklek Wonjongkam in their Oct. '10 title fight. Perseverance paid off, as the battle-tested Thai managed a hard-fought points win over Tomas Rojas in March '12 to claim a title at super flyweight.
His reign ended one year later, dropping a decision to Yota Sato in his lone other bout in Japan to date. It was also his final bout at super flyweight, having since moved up to bantamweight where he has won 17 straight fights to earn a shot versus Yamanaka.
The co-feature pits a pair of former 130 lb. titlists in 10-round action, as Takahiro Ao (26-3, 12KOs) faces Mexico's Juan Carlos Salgado (26-3-1, 16KOs), who has lost two straight.
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