Brian Norman Jr. (27-0, 21 KOs) has finished preparations for Thursday’s WBO world welterweight title defence on June 19 against Japanese challenger Jin Sasaki (19-1-1, 17 KOs) at Ota City General Gymnasium in Tokyo.
This is the second title defence for 24-year-old Norman Jr., who burst onto the scene with last May’s upset of Giovani Santillan in Santillan’s hometown of San Diego, becoming the youngest reigning world champion.
He now enters enemy territory again against 23-year-old Sasaki, who is unbeaten in his last nine fights and known as a relentless volume puncher.
Tokyo’s Sasaki earned the title shot with January’s 12-round decision over Shoki Sakai on the Naoya Inoue-Ye Joon Kim undercard.
All the official weights, ringwalk times, quotes and fight details below:
How to Watch
ESPN+ 4am ET / 1am PT / 9am BST
Main Event 7:15am ET / 4:15am PT / 12:15pm BST
Running Order
Brian Norman Jr. 146.8 lbs vs Jin Sasaki 146.8 lbs
12×3 WBO Welterweight World Title
Referee: Gustavo Tomas (Argentina)
Judges: Richard Blouin (Canada), Tetsuya Iida (Japan), and Robin Taylor (USA)
Sora Tanaka 146.8 lbs vs Takeru Kobata 146.8 lbs
12×3 Vacant OPBF Welterweight Title
Yuya Oku 125.4 lbs vs Reiya Abe 125.7 lbs
10×3 Vacant Japanese Featherweight Title
Cristian Araneta 107.6 lbs vs Thanongsak Simsri 107.4 lbs
12×3 Vacant IBF Light Flyweight World Title
Quotes
Brian Norman Jr.
“This championship belt means everything to me. This opens a whole lot of doors. This is what I dreamed about since I was 7 years old. I’m 24 years old now, so just imagine how long that is. That’s 17 years. This is literally what I’ve been working for my whole life. I’m not giving it up at all. I don’t care where I’m at, I don’t care what the location is… this will forever be with me.
“I look out here and I see the fanbase that he has. I see all the love he has received, and I respect that he’s doing his job. Now it’s time for me to do the job that I’m supposed to do as the WBO welterweight world champion.
“Confidence is key. With Jin Sasaki saying he’s only 80 percent confident, I mean, that’s on him. But, also, he says he wants to overcome that. I respect him for being a man and actually saying that out loud and being real with everyone and himself. With me, I come to the ring every time a million percent confident and ready to go. I know the work I put in. I know the time I put in. This is not just this year. This is not just last year. This is year after year, day after day, second after second. This is what I live for. This is what I love to do.
“Of course, we’re here in front of all these cameras, but to be real, it’s just the sport of boxing. I don’t really care about this. I just like to fight, and I will have fun in the ring come June 19.”
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