ORIENTAL and Pacific Boxing Federation (OPBF) bantamweight champion Froilan Saludar defends his belt against Japanese Keita Kurihara in a rematch in the co-main event of Omega Sports Promotions’ “Kumbati 16” at the NUSTAR Resort Cebu Convention Center on Jan. 26, 2024.
Saludar dethroned Kurhara in their first meeting after stopping him in just a single round on Oct. 12 in Japan.
After a rough patch in his career, in which he went 2-4 in a four-year stretch, the 34-year-old Saludar revived his career with a stunning knockout of Kurihara.
Saludar, at one time, was considered as one of the best prospects from the Philippines. He fought for a world title back in 2018 and lost to then World Boxing Organization (WBO) flyweight king Sho Kimura by a sixth round knockout in China.
Saludar has fought some of the best in boxing lower weight divisions, the likes of Luis Nery, Daigo Higa, Andrew Moloney, Takuma Inoue and McWilliams Arroyo.
The 30-year-old Kurihara won the OPBF bantamweight belt on March 4 with a second round technical knockout of Kai Chiba in Japan before he was dethroned by Saludar a few months after.
Kurihara shared the ring with elite fighters like Inoue, Yukinori Oguni and Hiroaki Teshigawara.
Saludar is currently ranked No. 8 by the World Boxing Council (WBC), while Kurihara is rated No. 12 by the WBC.
Saludar is 34-7-1 with 24 knockouts, while Kurihara is 17-8-1 with 15 knockouts.
The main event features an International Boxing Federation (IBF) light flyweight title eliminator between Christian Araneta (23-2, 18 KOs) and Arvin Magramo (17-1-1, 11 KOs).
The winner of the title eliminator becomes the mandatory challenger of IBF light flyweight titleholder Adrian Curiel.