Shinsuke Yamanaka will fight in another world title bout. But for the first time in more than six years, he will walk into the ring without a championship belt.
Instead, the 35-year-old southpaw will try to regain the WBC bantamweight title from Luis Nery, who handed him his first professional loss last August.
The rematch is slated for March 1 at Ryogoku Kokugikan. On the same card, IBF super bantamweight champ Ryosuke Iwasa is scheduled to make his first title defense against 13th-ranked Ernesto Saulong of the Philippines.