The Wba and Ibf light-Flw champion Ryoichi Taguchi entered this fight with a pro record of 27-2-2 (12 knockouts) and he is ranked as the No.2 light flyweight in the world (currently the #1 in this division is Ken Shiro). He suffered his last defeat when he faced Naoya Inoue in 2013, since then he has collected nine victories and one draw, against Carlos Canizales at the end of 2016 (Taguchi vs Canizales); after this fight he has beat Robert Barrera (Taguchi vs Barrera) and Milan Melindo (Milan Melindo vs Ryoichi Taguchi).
His opponent, the former world champion in two different weight classes Hekkie Budler, has an official boxing record of 31-3-0 (10 knockouts) and he entered as the No.6 in the same weight class. He fought twice last year defeating Joey Canoy and losing to Milan Melindo (via split decision, Milan Melindo vs Hekkie Budler). Taguchi vs Budler is valid for the IBF and WBA Super World light flyweight titles. Watch the video and rate this fight!
Date: 2018-05-20
Where: Ota-City General Gymnasium, Tokyo, Japan
Division: light flyweight (108 lbs, 49.0 kg)
Title: IBF and WBA Super World light flyweight titles
Taguchi’s previous fight: Milan Melindo vs Ryoichi Taguchi
Budler’s previous fight: Milan Melindo vs Hekkie Budler
Budler’s next fight: Hekkie Budler vs Hiroto Kyoguchi
Taguchi’s next fight: Kosei Tanaka vs Ryoichi Taguchi
Taguchi vs Budler full fight video:
(Free embeddable video hosted on Dailymotion and not uploaded by AllTheBestFights)
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6ka4cy
I`m in shock that this fight didn`t get at least 4 stars… Maybe becouse it wasn`t broadcast with english commentary… 4 stars for Loma vs Linares, and only 3 for this one? ehh….