Sho Kimura vs Wulan Tuolehazi Preview January 25th, 2023
Former WBO Flyweight Champion Sho Kimura of Japan takes on Wulan Tuolehazi of China for the WBA International Flyweight Title this Wednesday, January 25th, The 12-rounder will be held in Bangkok, Thailand. Tuolehazi was last in the ring in November when he beat Guangheng Luan by a six-round unanimous decision. Kimura last saw action in May when he fought to an eight-round draw with Ryu Horikawa.
Kimura vs Tuolehazi Betting Odds
Here are the betting odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- Wulan Toolehazi +180
- Sho Kimura -225
My Pick
Kimura is now 34 years old and has been boxing as a pro since 2013 with 131 rounds of experience under his belt. He climbs through the ropes with a record of 19-3-3 with 12 Ko’s and stands 5-feet-5-inches tall with a 66.5-inch reach. Kimura was stopped in his pro debut in just 75 seconds by Shosuke Oji in 2013 and then won five straight before boxing two consecutive draws with Akira Kokubu and Isao Ayoama in 2014.
After getting off to a rocky start he stuck at it and won the vacant WBO Asia Pacific Flyweight Title in 2016. He then made a bigger name for himself in July, 2017 when he stopped Zou Shiming in the 11th round to lift the Chinese Olympian’s WBO World Flyweight Title. Kimura then defended it against Toshiyuki Igarashi and Froilan Saludar by stopping the challengers in the ninth and sixth rounds respectively.
Kimura ran into Kosei Tanaka in September, 2018 in a candidate for fight of the year and lost his title via majority decision. Since then he’s racked up two wins a loss and a draw as he stopped Wicha Phulaikhao in the third round for the vacant Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation Silver Flyweight Title, dropped a unanimous decision to Carlos Canizales in a shot at the WBA Light Flyweight Title, stopped Merlito Sabillo in the second round and drew with Horikawa in his last outing. Kimura’s a great volume puncher rather than a knockout artist and carries around a current knockout ratio of 48 per cent.
The 29-year-old Tuolehazi has a mark of 15-4-1 with 7 Kos. He made his pro debut in 2015 after a successful amateur career and has 146 rounds of experience under his belt. He doesn’t possess much in the power department with a current knockout ratio of just 35 per cent. Since turning pro he’s managed to capture the vacant WBC Silver, the interim WBO Asia Pacific, and the vacant WBA International Flyweight Titles.
Tuolehazi stands 5-feet-5-inches tall with a 66-inch reach which puts him at the same height as Kimura and gives him a half-inch edge in reach. Tuolehazi has been beaten by Xian Qian Wei, Van Thao Tran and Jian Wang all by decision and was stopped in the third round by Kosei Tanaka in 2019 in a shot at the WBO Flyweight title. His lone draw came against Takeshi Kaneko over six rounds in 2017. Tuolehazi lost his first two pro contests and three of his first five but like Kiimura he stuck with it and has carved out a pretty good career as a solid pro.
Prediction…
Tuolehazi is five years younger than Kimura but doesn’t have as much power. However, Kimura’s peak came a few years ago in his slugfest with Kosei Tanaka and that fight took a bit out of him as it was an absolute slugfest. This should be an entertaining battle and a close fight but if Kimura can still manage to throw his punches in volume each round he’ll be tough to beat. I’ll give the edge here to Kimura due to his nonstop, entertaining punching style.
Kimura’s aggressiveness is hard to handle.
Play: Kimura -225 @ BetOnline.ag
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Sho Kimura betting • Wulan Tuolehazi betting