A flyweight fight between a seasoned veteran and an up and coming contender has been added to the Shooto 0329 card. The matchup was reportedly proposed by Shinya Aoki as part of an ongoing project he is working on with Abema TV.
It pits the experienced Kiyotaka Shimizu against the undefeated Tatsuro Taira. The latter is 16 years younger than his opponent who is a former flyweight King of Pancrase.
Taira (6-0) already had extensive amateur experience when he made his pro debut in 2016. Since then he has won six fights out of six for Shooto with five of those wins coming inside the distance.
By contrast Shimizu (24-15-3) made his pro debut in 2008. The names on his resume include Mitsuhisa Sunabe, Yasuhiro Urushitani, Mamoru Yamaguchi, Shinichi Kojima, Kentaro Watanabe, Yuki Motoya, Yuya Shibata, Ryuichi Miki, Yoshiro Maeda and Hiromasa Ogikubo.
While other events in Tokyo are being postponed Shooto 0329 appears to be pushing ahead. The card is set for Korakuen Hall on March 29th and will be headlined by a bantamweight bout between Tatsuya Ando and Motonobu Tezuka.
The card will also feature the semi finals of the atomweight tournament. Saori Oshima faces Mina Kurobe while Ye Ji Lee has been matched with Megumi Sugimoto.
Meanwhile Takamasa Kiuchi faces Ryohei Kurosawa in a flyweight fight.
Shooto 0329, Tokyo, March 29th
Tatsuya Ando vs. Motonobu Tezuka (Bantamweight)
Tatsuro Taira vs. Kiyotaka Shimizu (Flyweight)
Takamasa Kiuchi vs. Ryohei Kurosawa (Flyweight)
Saori Oshima vs. Mina Kurobe (Atomweight Tournament Semi Final)
Ye Ji Lee vs. Megumi Sugimoto (Atomweight Tournament Semi Final)
