CEBU CITY, Philippines — Former three-division world champion Kosei Tanaka returned to Cebu for some top-notch boxing training.
The 28-year-old Japanese is the former World Boxing Organization (WBO) world minimum, world flyweight, and former world light flyweight champion.
He will spend three weeks in Cebu at the ZIP Sanman Boxing gym in Banawa, Barangay Guadalupe.
According to ZIP Sanman Boxing Team’s chief trainer, Michael Domingo, Tanaka arrived last week and went straight into sparring sessions.
Tanaka sparred with Cebuano prospect Reymart Tagacanao of the Villamor Boxing Gym and Domingo’s prospect Alex Santisima.
Tanaka guns for his fourth weight division world title by taking on Mexican Christian Bacasegua Rangel. They will fight for the vacant WBO world super flyweight title in Kokugikan in Tokyo, Japan, on February 24, 2024.
Tanaka is accompanied by his trainer and manager, Kiyoshi Hatanaka, a former WBC world super bantamweight champion, in his three-week training camp in Cebu.
Tanaka isn’t new to training in Cebu. In fact, he was here last summer at the Omega Boxing Gym to train for his tuneup bout against Pablo Carrillo.
Tanaka has a record of 19 wins with 11 knockouts and one defeat, while Rangel has a 22-4-2 (win-loss-draw) record with nine knockouts.
