ESPN+ will have fight fans waking up early here in the States on Monday, but they won’t mind as the card features some high-caliber fighters from Japan. The main event will have unified junior flyweight championKenshiro ‘The Amazing Boy’ Teraji (21-1, 13 KOS) defending his titles against Hekkie Budler (35-4, 11 KOs). The co-feature will see the return of WBO super flyweight champion Junto Nakatani (25-0, 19 KOs)going up against Argi Cortes (25-3-2, 10 KOs).
The 31-year-old Teraji had reigned supreme in the junior flyweight division only to have a slight hiccup in 2021 when he lost to Masamichi Yabuki (15-4, 14 KOs). Teraji continued his winning ways after the rematch and is looking to set up once again a fight with Jonathan ‘Bomba’ Gonzalez (27-3-1, 14 KOs), who holds the WBO title (Gonzalez pulled out of the first scheduled fight with an illness). Teraji first has to get by the tough Budler on Monday to get the fight with Gonzalez.
Budler is 35 but should push Teraji to his limits. His last fight was a first-round knockout in May over Wichet Sendprakhon (15-12-1, 8 KOs) and a more notable win against former champion Elwin Soto (20-3, 13 KOs) in June 2022. Can Budler pull off the upset?
KENSHIRO TERAJI VS. HEKKIE BUDLER BETTING ODDS
Per BetOnline.ag, Kenshiro Teraji is the favorite at -1500 (Under 10 ½ rounds +110), and Hekkie Budler is the underdog at +800 (Over 10 ½ rounds -140).
ALL JAPAN TRIPLEHEADER 🇯🇵#TerajiBudler | SEP 18 | @ESPNPlus | @PrimeVideo in Japan pic.twitter.com/GFctPVfroc
— Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) August 30, 2023
KENSHIRO TERAJI VS. HEKKIE BUDLER FIGHT DATE, START TIME
- Date: Monday, September 18
- Time: 5:00 a.m. ET / 2:00 a.m. PT
- Main event ringwalks (approx): 8:00 a.m. ET / 5:00 a.m. PT
These timings could change due to the length of the undercard fights.
WHAT CHANNEL/STREAM IS KENSHIRO TERAJI VS. HEKKIE BUDLER?
- U.S.: ESPN+
- UK: TBD
KENSHIRO TERAJI VS. HEKKIE BUDLER FIGHT CARD
Junto Nakatani 🇯🇵 ha estado entrenando en Los Angeles 🇺🇸
— ESPN KnockOut (@ESPNKnockOut) September 5, 2023
Y el 18 de septiembre expondrá el Mundial 👑 WBO supermosca frente a Argi Cortés 🇲🇽 en Tokio en la coestelar de #TerajiBudler 🔥 EN VIVO 🔥 por #ESPNKnockOut pic.twitter.com/rdtUANzKy6
- Kenshiro Teraji (c) vs. Hekkie Budler for the WBA, WBC, and Ring light flyweight titles
- Junto Nakatani (c) vs. Argi Cortes for the WBO super flyweight title
- Anthony Olascuaga vs. Giemel Magramo; light flyweights
- Tenshin Nasukawa vs. Luis Guzman Torres; super bantamweight
