Back in March Akane Fujiwara (6-4-1, 2) [藤原茜] scored the biggest win of her career as she over-came veteran Kimika Miyoshi [三好喜美佳] and claimed the Japanese Female Featherweight title. Despite losing that belt in late July she has been given another major opportunity that was announced earlier today.
The 37 year old Japanese fighter is now set to fight for the WBO Asia Pacific Women's Featherweight title, as she takes on Thai youngster Thanchanok Phanan (20-10, 12), on October 13th at the Yokohama Budokan as part of a Treasure Boxing show.
Fujiwara, who announced the bout along with her team earlier today, stated "I was disappointed that I couldn't defend my title for the first time in my last fight, and I felt a sense of disappointment and immaturity. However, my trainer, Koguchi, and the rest of my team appreciated the new things I tried to do in the match and the changes I made since then. I didn't get results, but right after the match I thought, "I'll use this experience to move on to the next one!" So I was genuinely happy to be given a new chance so soon,"
Phanan, who is just 22, has managed to rack up fighters at an alarming rate since her debut back in March 2019. She has proven to be a win some-lose some fighter, but has also shown a real willingness to take fights when offered, and she has already had bouts in Thailand, Indonesia, Australia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, United Arab Emirates and Germany. She has been stopped 4 times and although she’s fighting at Featherweight here, she has often fought between Bantamweight and Super Bantamweight.
