Riku Masuda, Kenshiro Teraji, Shokichi Iwata pick up wins in Tokyo

U-NEXT’s Tokyo tripleheader this morning saw Riku Masuda and Shokichi Iwata retain their titles, while Kenshiro Teraji picked up the vacant WBO super flyweight belt to become a three-weight world champion.

Masuda (11-1, 9 KO) was looking to build off of last March’s dominant finish of Nonito Donaire, which earned him the secondary WBA bantamweight title. Challenger Daigo Higa (21-4-3, 19 KO) retired earlier this year after coming up agonizingly short in three consecutive title shots, and though he once

again forced a split decision, it was Masuda who ultimately emerged victorious.

This hypothetically puts Masuda somewhere in line to challenge “Bam” Rodriguez, who clobbered Antonio Vargas for the full belt earlier this year, but there’s no telling where in the queue he actually sits considering “champion in recess” Seiya Tsutsumi and the WBA’s ever-mercurial approach to belt consolidation.

Teraji (26-2, 16 KO), fighting for the first time since last July’s upset loss to Ricardo Sandoval, ended his longest layoff of the 2020s by dropping durable veteran Israel Gonzalez (32-6-2, 12 KO) twice en route to a unanimous decision victory. The win marked his eighteenth consecutive appearance in a world title fight, a streak dating back to his 2017 defeat of Ganigan Lopez for WBC light flyweight gold, and further cements the 34-year-old “Amazing Boy” as one of the finest lower-weight fighters of this generation.

Iwata (17-2, 4 KO), who took out Knockout CP Freshmart to become a two-time champion in March, ate a sharp straight left from undefeated challenger Erik Badillo (19-1, 8 KO) that put him on his seat four rounds into his inaugural WBC light flyweight title defense. Undaunted, he went on to stop Badillo with a barrage of right hands in the 11th for his eighth finish in his last nine bouts.