Yudai Shigeoka vs Samuel Salva Preview August 24th, 2024
Former WBC Minimumweight (Strawweight) Boss Yudai Shigeoka of Japan squares off against Samuel Salva of the Philippines this Saturday, August 24th. The 10-rounder takes place in Suita, Japan with Shigeoka hoping to rebound from his lone pro loss in March when he was edged by split decision by Melvin Jerusalem to lose his belt. Shigeoka had beaten Panya Pradabsri by a unanimous decision to win his word title last October. Salva’s last fight came in October when he stopped Jayson Francisco in the first round.
Shigeoka vs Salva Betting Odds
Here are the betting odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- Samuel Salva +375
- Yudai Shigeoka -550
My Pick
The 27-year-old Shigeoka is a southpaw and the older brother of former IBF Minimumweight Champion Ginjiro Shigeoka. Both brothers lost their most recent fights to see their world titles vanish. Yudai won four national titles in high school as a pinweight and captured the All Japan Boxing Championship in 2018 as a flyweight and made it to the finals of the World University Championships as a light flyweight.
He planned on competing in the 2020 Olympic Games while attending university, dropped out of school and turned pro when the junior flyweight division was eliminated by the International Olympic Committee. Shigeoka reportedly went 82-10 with 20 Ko’s as an amateur and has an 8-1 record as a pro with 5 Ko’s after making his debut in 2019. He has 62 rounds of pro experience and possesses good power as 62.5 per cent of his wins have come by stoppage including four stoppages of his last seven. Shigeoka measures 5-feet-3-inches tall with a 64-inch reach and has never fought outside of Japan as a pro.
He won the vacant Japanese Youth Light Flyweight Title in February, 2021 with a fifth-round TKO over Ryu Horikawa and added the vacant WBO Asia Pacific Minimumweight Belt in his next outing nine months later via a 12-round majority decision over Tsubasa Koura. Next in his collection was the vacant Japanese Minimumweight Crown which he won by stopping Tatsuro Nakashima in the third round. He became the WBC Interim Minimumweight Champion last April when he halted Wilfredo Mendez in the seventh frame and captured the full belt in October with his unanimous decision win over Panya Pradabsri.
As for Salva, he’s also 27 years old and makes the ring walk with an impressive mark of 20-1 with 13 Ko’s and has fought 111 rounds since turning pro in 2016 following a good youth amateur career. He has better-than-average power as 65 per cent of his victories have come by stoppage including three straight. Salva stands 5-feet-1-inch tall with an unlisted reach which makes him two inches shorter than Shigeoka. The lone defeat on Salva’s record came at the hands of Pedro Taduran in 2019 when he was stopped after the fourth round in a shot at the vacant IBF Minimumweight Title.
He dropped Taduran in the first round and then had a point deducted in the fourth round for an intentional headbutt. At the time of the stoppage all three judges had the fight scored 37-37. Of course, Taduran stopped Ginjiro Shigeoka in the ninth round a few weeks ago to take his IBF Belt. As a pro, Salva won the vacant Filipino Mnimumweight Title in 2017. This will be his first pro contest outside of his homeland and he’ll be taking a step up in class again as just eight of his 21 previous opponents entered the ring with a winning record.
Prediction…
Shigeoka has the edge here as he’s fighting in his homeland but let’s not forget that he’s coming off of a loss at home. He’ll be determined to bounce back from his loss but needs to be wary of Salva’s skills and power. He also needs to be aware that a few elite Japanese boxers such as himself, his brother, Kazuto Ioka and Ryuto Kyoguchi have been beaten recently in Japan and/or by fellow Asian boxers. Salva has the skills and power to pull off a bit of an upset here and should have his moments in the fight, but I believe Shigeoka bounce back with a win in a close, hard-fought battle.
Shigeoka has a slight edge in most areas.
Play Shigeoka -550 @ BetOnline.ag
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Samuel Salva betting • Yudai Shigeoka betting