Deep Champ Matsumoto Faces ‘Lion Takeshi’ at ‘Fight for Japan’
Chris Nelson May 9, 2011
Two-time Shooto titlist
“Lion”
Takeshi Inoue and current Deep
featherweight champion Koichiro
Matsumoto (Pictured) will square off in a 143-pound affair at
Dream “Fight for Japan” on May 29.
Keiichi Sasahara, event producer of Dream, announced the matchup Monday at a news conference inside Tokyo’s Deep Official Gym Impact.
Sasahara stated that he also intended to reveal Dream lightweight
champ Shinya
Aoki’s opponent for the card, but that a foe has yet to be
finalized for the spindly submission specialist. Aoki was first
rumored to meet Willamy
“Chiquerim” Freire at the event, and then Antonio
McKee. On Saturday, Sherdog.com reported that former WEC
lightweight champ Jamie Varner
had been tapped as an adversary for the “Tobikan Judan.”
Matsumoto-Inoue is the third featherweight attraction added to “Fight for Japan,” alongside bouts pitting Caol Uno against “Wicky” Akiyo Nishiura and Mitsuhiro Ishida against Joachim Hansen. The event, which takes place at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, will also feature the quarter- and semifinals of Dream’s 2011 bantamweight tournament.
Inoue, 31, has twice held Shooto’s world 143-pound championship. The Shooting Gym Yokohama product’s most recent title reign ended in May 2010, when Inoue came up on the short end of a three-round split decision against current champ Hatsu Hioki. Inoue made his Dream debut in September and was handed a unanimous decision loss against Kazuyuki Miyata, the first back-to-back defeats of his eight-year career. Inoue rebounded on April 29 with a second-round knockout of Shooto Pacific Rim 143-pound titleholder Taiki Tsuchiya.
Once a lightweight title contender, 25-year-old Matsumoto made the drop to featherweight following a knockout loss to Katsunori Kikuno in their April 2009 Deep title bout. Now training alongside Kikuno, Matsumoto has notched five straight wins at 145 pounds, claiming Deep gold with a hard-earned July 2010 split decision against then-champ Takafumi Otsuka. Matsumoto was last seen in December, when he halted the hard-nosed Shoji Maruyama with third-round punches.
Keiichi Sasahara, event producer of Dream, announced the matchup Monday at a news conference inside Tokyo’s Deep Official Gym Impact.
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Matsumoto-Inoue is the third featherweight attraction added to “Fight for Japan,” alongside bouts pitting Caol Uno against “Wicky” Akiyo Nishiura and Mitsuhiro Ishida against Joachim Hansen. The event, which takes place at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, will also feature the quarter- and semifinals of Dream’s 2011 bantamweight tournament.
Inoue, 31, has twice held Shooto’s world 143-pound championship. The Shooting Gym Yokohama product’s most recent title reign ended in May 2010, when Inoue came up on the short end of a three-round split decision against current champ Hatsu Hioki. Inoue made his Dream debut in September and was handed a unanimous decision loss against Kazuyuki Miyata, the first back-to-back defeats of his eight-year career. Inoue rebounded on April 29 with a second-round knockout of Shooto Pacific Rim 143-pound titleholder Taiki Tsuchiya.
Once a lightweight title contender, 25-year-old Matsumoto made the drop to featherweight following a knockout loss to Katsunori Kikuno in their April 2009 Deep title bout. Now training alongside Kikuno, Matsumoto has notched five straight wins at 145 pounds, claiming Deep gold with a hard-earned July 2010 split decision against then-champ Takafumi Otsuka. Matsumoto was last seen in December, when he halted the hard-nosed Shoji Maruyama with third-round punches.
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