A year ago, Yudai Shigeoka unexpectedly lost his WBC strawweight title against Melvin Jerusalem.
Shigeoka (9-1, 5 knockouts), rated at No. 4 by The Ring at strawweight, is determined to regain his old belt when the two meet on Sunday at the Aichi Sky Expo, Tokoname, Japan.
"I am happy that I can fight rematch," Shigeoka (9-1, 5 knockouts) told The Ring. "I do not think I will lose at all because I have trained and prepared and I can speak with confidence.
"As I always, I fight with [it in] mind, that I have to win, and I will win."
The 27-year-old southpaw has fought once since the defeat, beating another Filipino fighter, Samuel Salva, by 10-round unanimous decision.
He is now ready to take back what he feels is his.
"I lost one-year ago, and I will win one-year later," he said. "I will prove that I am stronger than before.
"I want to show my progress this time that is why I am excited for the revenge match. I want to prove and show what I got. I will show that I am better without any question."
Shigeoka, whose younger brother Ginjiro formerly held the IBF 105-pound title, has a very simple message for Jerusalem.
"Let's put up the best fight," he said. "And at the end I will win!"
Jerusalem (23-3, 12 KOs), rated at No. 1 by The Ring at strawweight, won his first 11 fights at home in the Philippines before losing a razor thin decision to then-WBC titlist Wanheng Menayothin (UD 12). He suffered a hangover and lost to compatriot Joey Canoy (UD 10) in his next bout.
However, he won eight consecutive fights and landing a WBO title shot against Masataka Taniguchi. The 30-year-old made the most of his opportunity scoring an impressive second-round stoppage. He yielded the title in his first defenses against Oscar Collazo (RTD 7) but impressively bounced back to annex the WBC title from Shigeoka (SD 12) and beat Luis Castillo (UD 12) in his first defense.
Questions and/or comments can be sent to Anson at elraincoat@live.co.uk and you can follow him on Twitter@AnsonWainwr1ght