Anthony Olascuaga is officially set for his next assignment.
Olascuaga will defend his 112-pound WBO title for a fourth time when he takes on Taku Kuwahara on December 17 in Japan.
It was originally reported that Olascuaga (10-1, 7 KOs) was going to defend his flyweight title against Jukiya Iimura on the same date, but it's Kuwahara (14-2, 9 KOs) who ultimately got his number called. Iimura is ranked 10th by The Ring.
Olascuaga,
The Ring's No. 6 flyweight and a 26-year-old from Los Angeles trained by Rudy Hernandez,
stopped Juan Carlos Camacho in two rounds headlining The Ring’s “Underdog” series debut in September.
Kuwahara, a 30-year-old from Japan, returned to the win column in March with a fifth-round stoppage win against Hamson Lamandau. Kuwahara suffered a second loss to Seigo Yuri Akui in a rematch in May last year.
Olascuaga-Kuwahara will be featured on the undercard of a Teiken Promotions event headlined by WBA bantamweight champion in recess Seiya Tsutsumi taking on Nonito Donaire. In the co-main event, WBA junior flyweight champion Kyosuke Takami faces WBO beltholder Rene Santiago in a title unification clash.
Santiago is rated third in his class by The Ring. Takami is second.
Tsutsumi is rated No. 1 at 118 pounds by The Ring.
Manouk Akopyan is The Ring’s lead writer. Follow him on X and Instagram: @ManoukAkopyan