While the rest of the boxing world wind down around the Christmas holidays, Japan ramp things up for their year-ending extravaganza.

The Ring understands Teiken Promotions will put on a triple-header in Tokyo, Japan on December 17, as first reported by Brunch Boxing.

In the main event, WBA's 'champion in recess' Seiya Tsutsumi will face interim beltholder Nonito Donaire.

Tsutsumi had been tabbed to face WBA ruler Antonio Vargas, but Vargas' mother recently passed away and so Donaire will step into the breach.

Victory would see Donaire, who turns 43 on November 16, become the third-oldest fighter to ever win a major sanctioning body world title.

Tsutsumi (12-0-3, 8 KOs), rated at No. 1 by The Ring at bantamweight, won his first five fights before consecutive draws with then-unbeaten Kazuki Nakajima (D8) and Daigo Higa (D10). In his next bout, he won the Japanese title against Kyosuke Sawada (TKO8).

The 29-year-old solidified his status with four defenses, before upsetting Takuma Inoue with a 12-round points win to claim the WBA crown. However during his first defence on February 24, he was held to another draw against former flyweight champion Higa.

Donaire (43-8, 28 KOs) has won world titles at flyweight, bantamweight, junior featherweight and featherweight during a Hall of Fame career. He also holds wins over the likes of Vic Darchinyan (TKO5), Fernando Montiel (TKO2) and Toshiaki Nishioka (TKO9).

He gave Naoya Inoue (UD 12) all he could handle during a thrilling fight in November 2019, before being stopped in two rounds of their June 2022 rematch. He ended a near two-year hiatus in June and prevailed with a ninth-round technical decision win over Andres Campos.

In the evening's co-feature, WBA junior flyweight titlist Kyosuke Takami will face WBO counterpart Rene Santiago in a two-belt unification.

Takami (10-0, 8 KOs), The Ring's No. 2-rated operator at 108-pounds, was a good amateur before turning to the paid ranks in July 2022. Since then, he has also moved quickly and stopped grizzled veteran Kenichi Horikawa (TKO6) in March 2024.

The 23-year-old won the Japanese title by stopping Toshiki Kawamitsu in six rounds too, before levelling up with an eye-opening display punctuated by a 10th-round stoppage of Erick Rosa to claim the WBA crown on July 30.

Santiago (14-4, 9 KOs) was 9-3 over the first seven years of his career and didn't look to be going far before a three-fight win streak, taking the unbeaten records of Gerardo Zapata (DQ2) and a 12th-round knockout win over Kevin Vivas.

The latter saw him given a bigger opportunity where he displayed an honest but unsuccessful effort, outpointed by then WBO 108-pound titleholder Jonathan Gonzalez.

After rebuilding with a 10-round points win on home turf, the 33-year-old Puerto Rican headed to Japan in March and started strong en route to a 12-round upset victory over Shokichi Iwata to clinch the WBO strap.

Lastly, WBO flyweight world champion Anthony Olascuaga will look to defend his title against Asia-and-Pacific regional beltholder Jukiya Iimura.

Olascuaga (10-1, 7 KOs), The Ring's No. 6-rated flyweight, turned professional in 2019 and moved quickly, defeating former world title challengers Saul Juarez (UD 8) and Gilberto Pedroza (UD 8) in 2021 and 2022.

The Los Angeles native received a late-notice call – after only five fights – to step into a world title fight against then-Ring, WBA and WBC 108-pound titleholder Kenshiro Teraji but fell short with a ninth-round stoppage loss the following year.

However, the 26-year-old rebounded by knocking out Riku Kano (KO3) to win the vacant WBO belt last year and has since made three defenses, beating Jonathan Gonzalez (TKO1), Hiroto Kyoguchi (UD12) and Juan Carlos Camacho (TKO2) on September 11.

IImura (9-1, 2 KOs), rated at No. 10 by The Ring at flyweight, folded in his fourth fight, a bad sixth-round stoppage defeat by the more experienced Esneth Domingo in 2022.

The 27-year-old has since won the Japanese title and made three defenses before claiming the regional title, avenging his Domingo loss with a 12-round points win in his first defense.

Questions and/or comments can be sent to Anson at elraincoat@live.co.uk and you can follow him on X@AnsonWainwr1ght