FAST-RISING Cebuano boxer Reymart Tagacanao faces the biggest challenge of his career today, Saturday, Oct. 25, 2025, as he defends his World Boxing Association (WBA) Asia super-flyweight title against undefeated Japanese prospect Ayamu Sano at the Bishkek Arena in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.
“This will be a good fight. I’ll just focus on our game plan,” said Tagacanao. “This is an important fight for me because this is a title defense of my WBA Asia belt and this is also my first fight outside the Philippines.”
Tagacanao won the vacant WBA Asia belt with a sixth-round stoppage of Indonesian fighter Hamson Lamandau in Bohol last year. He successfully defended his title with an eighth-round demolition of experienced Thai pugilist Phai Pharob, also in Bohol.
The 26-year-old Tagacanao is currently ranked No. 9 by the WBA.
Although Tagacanao has an impressive 82 percent knockout rate, the pride of Carcar City, Cebu, respects his opponent and believes this fight won’t be easy.
“I can’t say that I’ll knock him out. But if there’s an opportunity, I’ll go for the knockout,” he said.
On the other hand, the 22-year-old Sano won the biggest fight of his career so far last year, when he outclassed Filipino pug Yeroge Gura by unanimous decision to wrest the World Boxing Council (WBC) Youth super-flyweight strap in Japan.
He fought only once this year, winning over Thai fighter Nattapong Jankaew via fourth-round stoppage in Japan.
Tagacanao has an immaculate record of 11-0 with nine knockouts, while Sano has an equally impressive slate of 10-0-1 with five knockouts.
Three-division world champion Johnriel Casimero (34-4-1, 23 KOs), meanwhile, is also seeing action on the same card in a 10-rounder against Japanese contender Kyonosuke Kameda (15-5-2, 9 KOs).
Casimero returns to action after more than a year away from the ring. This will be his debut under Kameda Promotions.
Another Filipino warrior, undefeated 21-year-old prospect Kenneth Rapista (7-0, 6 KOs), is also featured on the undercard, where he locks horns with Japanese Hayate Hanada (4-1-1, 2 KOs) for the vacant International Boxing Federation (IBF) Youth super-flyweight strap.
This event marks the opening night of a two-day boxing showcase by Kameda Promotions in Kyrgyzstan.