CRISTIAN Araneta gained some valuable experience ahead of his much-anticipated world title shot after sparring with Japanese superstar Kenshiro Teraji at the Misako Boxing Gym in Japan.
“It was a great experience. That was Cristian’s last sparring then we’ll be focusing on making the weight,” Omega Boxing Gym head coach Jinggoy Junco told SunStar Cebu.
Araneta went five rounds with Teraji, who currently holds the World Boxing Council (WBC) and World Boxing Association (WBA) flyweight titles, on Monday, June 9, 2025. He also sparred with Yuga Inoue.
“He’s just seven pounds over. We are good to go,” said Junco. “We are now just trimming down in weight. We are not having much hard training, but more of trimming down and working on our game plan.”
Araneta is set to fight for a world title for the first time in his career. He will face Thai boxer Thanongsak Simsri for the vacant International Boxing Federation (IBF) light flyweight strap on June 19 at the Ota-City General Gymnasium in Tokyo, Japan.
Araneta finally earned his world title shot after three world IBF light-flyweight title eliminators.
Araneta’s first title eliminator was in 2019, when he went to Mexico to fight Daniel Valladares. Unfortunately, a shoulder injury forced him to discontinue the fight, giving Valladares the
stoppage win.
Two years later, Araneta flew to South Africa for his second title eliminator. This time, he suffered a close unanimous decision defeat at the hands of Sivenathi Nontshinga.
However, the third time proved to be the charm for Araneta as he scored a first-round stoppage of Arvin Magramo to earn IBF’s No. 1 light-flyweight spot in 2024.
The world title opportunity finally presented itself after then-IBF light-flyweight king Masamachi Yabuki relinquished his belt to fight in the flyweight division.