Jin Sasaki vs Shoki Sakai Preview Jan. 24th, 2025
Jin Sasaki of Japan will be putting his Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation and WBO Asia Pacific Welterweight Titles on the line in Tokyo this Friday, January 24th when he takes on fellow countryman Shoki Sakai. The 12-rounder is on the undercard of the Naoya Inoue vs Ye Joon Kim fight and can be seen live on ESPN+ in America starting at 4:15 am ET while fans in the UK and Ireland can catch it on Sky Sports at 9:15 am. Sasaki last fought in September when he stopped Qamil Balla in the second round while Sakai dropped a 10-round split decision to Ryota Toyoshima in his last outing in May to lose his Japanese Welterweight Title.
Sasaki vs Sakai Betting Odds
Here are the betting odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- Shoki Sakai +650
- Jin Sasaki -1200
My Pick
Sasaki is just 23 years old and has built up an impressive mark of 18-1-1 with 17 Ko’s and 75 rounds to his name since making his pro debut in 2018. He took up boxing when he started junior high school and reportedly went just 1-3 as an amateur. Things have certainly gone better for the youngster since turning pro as a teenager as he reached the 2019 East Japan Lightweight Rookie of the Year Final. However, he couldn’t make weight when he got there.
In 2020, Sasaki captured the Japanese Super Lightweight Youth Title by stopping Aso Ishiwaka in the third round. He defended the belt against Kaiki Yuba via a second-round KO to earn a shot at the vacant Japanese Super Lightweight Crown and the WBO Asia-Pacific Super Lightweight Title. He faced off against unbeaten Andy Hiraoka and was halted in 11th round for his lone pro defeat. Unfortunately, he had a weight problem again as he was four pounds overweight and the 140 lb title was on the line for Hiraoka only.
This led to the Japanese Boxing Commission suspending Sasaki’s license in October, 2021 for six months and they also fined him 20 per cent of his purse. When he returned to the ring in April, 2022, Sasaki had moved up to the welterweight division and halted Marcus Smith in the fifth round. The lone draw on his record came in his next fight when he fought to a six-round stalemate with Kotaro Sekine. He then won the WBO Asia-Pacific Welterweight Belt in November, 2023 when he took care of Ryota Toyoshima in just 116 seconds. Sasaki added the vacant Oriental and Pacific Belt with a fifth-round TKO over Joe Noynay last May.
It’s obvious that Sasaki has a ton of power as he’s gone the distance just twice as a pro and 94.4 per cent of his victories have come by stoppage. Sekine lasted the distance with him in their draw and he beat Hikaro Satu via a four-round unanimous decision in 2019. Although Sasaki was stopped by Hiraoka the first time he took a step up in class, he’s currently ranked number three in the world at welterweight by the IBF and the WBO and is ranked number four by the WBC and the WBA. Sasaki measures just over 5-feet-8-inches tall with a 69.5-inch reach.
As for Sakai, he’s a 34-year-old veteran with a 29-14-3 record along with 15 Ko’s. He’s lost more than his share of fights but he’s never been stopped. Sakai stands 5-feet-9-inches tall with a 69-inch reach so is a half-inch taller than Sasaki but gives up 2.5-inches in height. He has average power in his punches as just 51.7 per cent of his wins have come by stoppage and he’s halted just three of his past 22 opponents. Sakai turned pro back in 2010 and has boxed 306 rounds since.
His career actually kicked off in Mexico as 24 of his first 25 fights were held there with the other coming in Nicaragua. He’s also fought nine times in the USA and just nine times in his homeland of Japan, which were nine of his last 10 bouts. He didn’t fare too well in America as he went winless in his last five fights there with a draw followed by four straight losses. Sakai has too many losses to mention each one but these include unanimous decisions to Alexis Rocha, Nery Saguilan, Gor Yeritsyan, Eddie Gomez and Jose Lopez with the loss to Rocha in 2019 being for the WBC Continental Americas Belt.
Sakai did manage to win the vacant WBC Youth World Super Lightweight Belt in 2015 when he stopped Javier Mercado Delgadillo in the 10th and final round and he captured the vacant japanese Welterweight Title in 2023 when he halted Hironori Shigeta in the second round of a rematch after fighting to an eight round draw six months earlier. He defended the belt twice before losing it to Ryota Toyoshima in his last contest in May.
Prediction…
Everything points to a Sasaki win here as he’s 11 years younger than Sakai, is ranked by all four international boxing organizations and has tremendous power. He has been stopped once though and dropped before as well and has also had weight problems. Sakai has never been stopped in 46 pro fights even though he’s won just 29 of them. He obviously has a great chin and it will be tested on Friday as he doesn’t have the power to keep Sasaki off of him for 12 rounds. Cynics may assume Sasaki is just padding his record here but he’s just 23 years of age and facing a seasoned pro who always goes the distance. Unless he walks into something solid, Sasaki should win this fight and maybe quite handily, but the interesting aspect of it will be if it goes the distance or if he can become the first man to stop Sakai in his tracks.
Sasaki’s power and youthfulness should be enough.
Play Sasaki -1200 @ BetOnline.ag
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Jin Sasaki betting • Shoki Sakai betting