Earlier today (Monday), it was announced that former WBC Minimumweight world champion Yudai Shigeoka (8-1, 5) [重岡優大] would be returning on August 24th, on the card headlined by the rematch between Tomoki Kameda (41-4, 23) [亀田和毅] and Lerato Dlamini (20-2, 11), in an IBF world title eliminator.
Rather than having an easy return after his first los, Shigeoka has himself chosen to face former IBF world title contender Samuel Salva (20-1, 13), who has reeled off 3 wins since his 2019 loss to Pedro Taduran for the IBF title.a
At a press conference to announce the bout today Shigeoka explained "I realized my weakness in my last match. I was shocked, but I was able to recover thanks to the people around me who supported me. My younger brother Ginjiro is also working hard, so I was pretty depressed, but he told me, 'I don't want to continue without you,' and that moved me."
Shigeoka also explained "There were several candidates, and I chose the strongest fighter. I chose the toughest path that would be challenging. I hope to show that I've returned in my next match and that I'm still strong,"
Regarding at 105lbs Shigeoka told the attendees "I want to get revenge someday, so I can't move up. There is still something I can do in this weight class. It's one of my challenges. I need to dominate this weight class before I can move on,"
Notably Koki Kameda, who will be promoting the show, explained that Samuel Salva was “the kind of opponent you would face in a world title defense match,"
Regarding his last performance Yudai was reflective, and explained "I lost my composure. I panicked in the first round, and lost the momentum. I was sloppy, and that was exploited." and later added "There are some holes in my boxing, so I want to fill them in and improve my level step by step."
