STILL without a scheduled fight, Albert Pagara keeps himself busy and in tip-top shape by sharpening his skills as a sparring partner in Japan.

Pagara, the World Boxing Organization (WBO) Inter-Continental super bantamweight champion, is working as one of the sparring partners for former World Boxing Association (WBA) super bantamweight king Shun Kubo at the Shinsei Gym in Osaka.

“It’s nice for a change to spar with a non-Filipino fighter,” said the 25-year-old Pagara.

Kubo, 13-1 with nine knockouts, is challenging WBA featherweight titleholder Can Xu on May 26 in Fozhou, China.

Pagara flew to Japan last April 25 and will finish his sparring session on May 17.

Pagara is loving the moment of sparring with an elite Japanese talent like Kubo. He believes that this experience will make him become a better fighter.

“Sparring with his style will be a huge help for me. You’ll never know when you’ll fight a fighter with this caliber,” said Pagara.

The 29-year-old Kubo, a lanky southpaw with power in his fists, won the WBA super bantamweight belt with a 10th round stoppage win over then champion Nehomar Cermeno in 2017.

He immediately lost that crown in his first title defense after a ninth round technical knockout in the hands of Daniel Roman a few months later.

Pagara, meanwhile, is on a five-fight winning streak since suffering his first career loss against Cesar Juarez in 2016. He is coming off an easy opening round knockout of George Krampah last Nov. 24 and hasn’t fought for over five months.

Pagara is currently ranked No. 1 in the WBO and No. 6 in the International Boxing Federation (IBF). (EKA)