WBO number three contender Vic Saludar (17W-3L,10KO?s) will get another crack at a world title today, July 13, in Kobe, Japan when he challenges WBO minimumweight champion Ryuya Yamanaka (16W-2L,5KO?s).
Yamanaka beat countryman Tatsuya Fukuhara by unanimous decision in August of last year for the world title. He defended it once by stopping Mexican Moises Calleros in eight rounds last March.
Two years ago, Yamanaka beat Filipino Merlito Sabillo, a former WBO minimumweight champion, by unanimous verdict in Kobe for the OPBF title. He also owns wins against two other Filipinos, Roque Lauro and Ronelle Ferreras.
It was on New Year?s Eve 2015 when Saludar was close to becoming a world champion. He had then WBO minimumweight champ Kosei Tanaka on the canvas in round five and was ahead on the scoresheets before Tanaka stopped him with a hard body shot in the subsequent round. Saludar has since compiled a 6W-1L record.
The referee for the Yamanaka- Saludar clash will be Raul Caiz, Jr (USA). The three judges are Pinit Prayadsab (Thailand), Daniel Sandoval and Carlos Ortiz, both from the U.S. WBO VP for Asia Pacific Leon Panoncillo will be supervising the fight.
During the official weigh-in Thursday both made the division limit; Yamanaka weighed 104.72 while Saludar was 104.5lbs.
On July 27, Vic?s brother Froilan Saludar will also challenge for a world title against another Japanese, Sho Kimura, in Qingdao, China. Kimura will be defending his WBO flyweight belt for the second time.
Another Saludar brother, Rey Saludar, was a boxing gold medalist in the 52kg division during the 2010 Asian Games.
Photo: Vic Saludar (L) and Ryuya Yamanaka (R) during Thursday's weighin in Kobe, Japan.
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