Kosei Tanaka vs Pablo Carrillo Preview May 21st, 2023
Former three-weight world champion Kosei Tanaka of Japan meets Pablo Carrillo of Colombia in a 10-round tilt in Nagoya, Japan this Sunday, May 21st. Tanaka last saw action in December when he beat Yanga Sigqibo via a 10-round unanimous decision. Carrillo’s last fight took place in November when he won an eight-round unanimous decision over Andres Rubio. Tanaka has won three straight fights since the former WBO Flyweight Champion lost to WBO Super Flyweight Champion Kazuto Ioka via an eighth-round stoppage in a move up in weight in late 2020 while Carrillo has three wins and a draw since losing to former world champion Donnie Nietes in April, 2021.
Tanaka vs Carrillo Betting Odds
Here are the betting odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- Pablo Carrillo +800
- Kosei Tanaka -1500
My Pick
The 27-year-old Tanaka still hopes to one day join Kazuto Ioka as the only Japanese boxers to win a world title in four weight divisions. He captured the WBO Flyweight Title by majority decision against Sho Kimura in September, 2018 in my pick as 2018’s fight of the year. He defended the crown six months later by unanimous decision against fellow countryman Ryoichi Taguchi in another classic then retained it against Jonathan Gonzalez by seventh-round stoppage in August, 2019 before stopping Wulan Tuolehazi in the third round before losing to Ioka on New Year’s Eve 2020.
Tanaka has fought just 19 times as a pro and owns a mark of 18-1 with 10 Ko’s. He and Vasyl Lomachenko share the world record for the fewest fights (12) to become three-weight world champions as Tanaka has also owned the WBO Minimumweight and Light Flyweight Crowns and beat Masayoshi Hashizume last June for the WBO Asia Pacific Super Flyweight belt. He’s well known for his volume punching and aggression and is an extremely exciting boxer to watch. He turned pro in 2013 after a fine amateur career and has boxed 151 rounds since.
Tanaka captured the vacant Minimumweight Title in 2015 with a unanimous decision over Julian Yedras and defended it once. He stopped Moises Fuentes in the fifth round a year later to capture the vacant Light Flyweight Title and defended it against Angel Acosta and Rangsan Chayanram and added his third title against Kimura. Tanaka stands just over 5-feet-4-inches tall and has a wingspan of 64.5 inches. As far as power goes, he has a current knockout ratio of 52.6 per cent and has gone the distance in two of his last three fights, one of them a split decision over Sho Ishida.
Carrillo is 34 years old and carries a record of 28-8-2 with 16 Ko’s and has 212 rounds of experience under his belt since making his pro debut in 2010. He reportedly stands just 5-feet-1-inch tall and has an unlisted reach, so we know he’s giving up four inches in height to Tanaka. He’s not really known as a power puncher either as his current knockout ratio comes in at 44.7 per cent and he’s gone the distance in three straight bouts and in four of his last five.
Carrillo has a pretty good chin on him as he’s been stopped just once in his eight defeats and that came at the hands of Francisco Rodriguez Jr in the fourth round in 2018. He won the vacant Colombian Flyweight Title back in 2013, the WBA Fedebol Super flyweight Crown in 2019 and the WBC Continental Americas Super Flyweight Title last July. He won these belts with wins over Ronald Barrera, Luis Golindano and Rober Barrera respectively.
The decision losses on Carrillo’s record came to Luis Concepcion twice in 2012, with the second defeat being in a shot at the WBC Latino Flyweight Title; to Kazuto Ioka in 2014, to Anuar Salas in 2014, to Ronald Ramos in 2017, to Jose Soto in 2018 and to Donnie Nietes in 2021 in a shot at the vacant WBO International Super Flyweight Belt. He also has wins over Luis Guerrero and Jose Jiminez with his first draw bring a 10-round affair with Luis Carlos Leon in 2011 and his second draw being a five-round technical decision against DeWayne Beamon in a shot at the vacant WBC Continental Americas Super Flyweight Title in April of last year.
Prediction…
Anytime Tanaka steps into the ring it has the potential to be one of the fights of the year due to his volume punching and heart. He also has a great chin even though he was stopped by Ioka in 2020. Carrillo also has a great chin and tremendous heart as he is just over five feet tall and has to work his way inside most opponents. Tanaka possesses natural aggression in the ring as he doesn’t mind taking a shot to land one of his own. Against Carrillo, he needs to continue throwing as many punches as possible to keep him on his back foot. I’m leaning towards Tanaka this weekend in a tough fight.
Tanaka’s aggressive style should be the difference.
Play: Tanaka -1500 @ BetOnline.ag
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Kosei Tanaka betting • Pablo Carrillo betting