Other Title Fights From Around The World
Today, boxing world title fights take place around the globe and are more accessible to watch than ever before. Sometimes, however, certain championship bouts do not receive as much attention and go underreported. Big Fight Weekend is committed to writing about boxing news, previews, and recaps. As such, the site is beginning a recurring segment on world title bouts from around the globe from the past week. It will recap fights that have not already been covered by the site, with a specific focus on clashes ranging from atomweight to heavyweight that had the WBA, WBC, IBF, and/or WBO titles on the line.
Today’s edition of “Other Title Fights From Around The World” consists of a recap of only one bout. It was an intriguing clash from Japan featuring experienced boxers with plenty of world title experience. Big Fight Weekend has more.
Yuko Kuroki vs. Montserrat Alarcón recap
On August 5, Yuko Kuroki (22-7-2, 9 KOs) faced Montserrat Alarcón (18-5-2, 0 KOs) in an atomweight (102 lbs) title fight promoted by Shinsei Promotions. The bout took place at the Central Gym in Kobe, Japan and was available live on U-Next stream. Going into the clash, Kuroki had held the WBO atomweight title since September 2022 and was previously a minimumweight (105 lbs) champion. On the other hand, Alarcón had been the WBA titleholder since August 2018. Previously, she was flyweight champion until losing her belt to Arely Mucino.
The bout itself was a close, hard-fought fight. In the end, Kuroki won via majority decision. Although one judge scored the contest a draw, the other two saw her defeating Alarcón and produced scores of 96-94. With the win, Kuroki is now the unified WBA and WBO atomweight champion. Only two other titleholders remain in this weight class. Japan’s Mika Iwakawa currently holds the IBF belt and the Czech Republic’s Fabiana Bytyqi is the WBC champion.
“Thank you very much for your support,” said Kuroki in an Instagram post translated from Japanese. “Thanks to everyone’s cheering and support, I was able to become a unified champion safely. It’s a dream I almost gave up on at one point, and I couldn’t have grasped it without the support of those around me. I’m really glad I didn’t give up.”
“I can only say thank God for allowing us to go down well,” said Alarcón in an Instagram post translated from Spanish. “Your plans for me are different and soon I will understand them. The result did not go as expected. Thank you to all who had confidence in me. It’s time to take a break.”
Currently writing out of Toronto, Canada, Saadeq first became a boxing fan while living in Doha, Qatar. Looking to become more involved in the sport, he began writing about boxing and has had work published in outlets such as Seconds Out and Boxing Social. He looks forward to continue covering boxing on Big Fight Weekend.
