Tina Rupprecht will face Eri Matsuda in the first Ring atomweight tournament
Four of the top five atomweight fighters in the world will share the headlines in the Blanko Sports and SES Boxing promotion at the Olympic Center, Heidelberg, Germany on November 23.
The tripleheader will see WBC atomweight (102 pounds) title holder Tina Rupprecht and fellow WBA/WBO champion Eri Matsuda go head-to-head in a vacant Ring contest.
Meanwhile, IBF atomweight champion Sumire Yamanaka will put her title on the line against Fabiana Bytyqi. On the undercard, European heavyweight champion Oleksandr Zakhozhyi will face Arnold Gjergjaj.
“I’m very excited to have the opportunity to combine titles and fight for the prestigious Ring title,” Rupprecht told The Ring. “This was my dream!
“I have a lot of respect for the WBO and WBA champion Eri Matsuda but I will show that I am the best in this division and I will be the undisputed champion.
Blanko Sports and SES Boxing head honcho Benedikt Poelchau welcomes the opportunity to stage such a big show in his home country.
Atomweight Eri Matsuda (right) kept her fledgling record perfect (3-0) with a unanimous decision over Nanae Suzuki on March 13 at Tokyo’s Korakuen Hall. (Photo by Naoki Fukuda)
“This is a special night for German boxing,” said the promoter. “Tina still has a chance to write history. If he wins, he will become the first German boxer – male or female – to hold three world titles and the Ring belt.
“Plus 6’9” EBU European heavyweight champion Oleks Zakhozhyi will defend his EBU title and will once again prove that he is a threat to the elite heavyweights out there. I am proud to bring that historic night of boxing to Heidelberg.”
Rupprecht (13-1-1, 3 KOs), ranked No. 1 by The Ring at atomweight, he started boxing at a young age before switching to boxing winning two German world titles as a novice before becoming a senior. In his seventh fight he won the interim WBC strawweight title. After one defense she was promoted to full champion and made five more defenses, most notably defeating Katia Gutierrez (SD 10) before losing to WBA reigning champion Seniesa Estrada (UD 10) on unification. He dropped weight and defeated Bytyqi (UD 10) for the WBC title.
Matsuda (7-1-1, 1 KO), ranked No. 2 by The Ring, he won the OPBF in his second fight and added the Japanese national title in his next fight. He was held by Saemi Hanagata (D 10) for the vacant IBF atomweight title and lost to Ayaka Miyao (SD 10) for the same title. He returned to the win column and won the WBA/WBO 102-pound titles last week against Yuko Kuroki (SD 10).
Yamanaka (8-0, 3 KOs), ranked No. 3 by The Ring, she is the younger sister of WBO strawweight titleholder Ryuya. He made his debut in 2020 and in his sixth fight won the WBO regional title. Last week he won the IBF title defeating Mika Iwakawa (UD 10).
Bytyqi (21-1-2, 5 KOs), ranked No. 5 by The Ring, turned professional in 2015. She became the first woman from the Czech Republic to win a world title when she defeated Denise Castle (UD 10) for the vacant WBC atomweight title in September 2018. The 28-year-old made four defenses before losing to Rupprecht (UD 10) in January.
Zakhozyi (19-0, 15 KOs) made his 2017 debut. However, this Ukrainian player, 31, had to fight a lot overseas. The 6’9” striker has defeated the likes of Kevin Johnson (UD 8), Pavel Sour (TKO 3) and Evgenios Lazaridis (TKO 1) before coming up big and stopping previously undefeated Granit Shala (KO 2) for the win. blank title for Europe in April.
Gjergjaj (38-3, 27 KOs) has been a professional fighter since making his debut in his adopted home of Switzerland in 2009. The now 40-year-old Kosovan-born striker won his first 29 games against the opposition. His biggest opportunity came against David Haye in London in 2016 and he was stopped in two rounds. He lost two more fights but is on a six-fight winning streak.
Questions and/or comments can be sent to Anson at [email protected].
