WBO welterweight champion Brian Norman Jr. and challenger Jin Sasaki both weighed in successfully on Wednesday for their 12-round headliner this Thursday, June 19th, in Tokyo, Japan.

Coverage starts live on ESPN+ THURSDAY at 4 a.m. ET/1 a.m. PT –  The main event is expected to begin at approximately 7:15 a.m. ET/4:15 a.m. PT

Sasaki, 23, secured this fight by meeting with Norman Jr. and politely asking for the opportunity. Monetarily, there was enough to gain for Brian to take the fight, but it’s not one that will help his popularity with fans. Americans are unfamiliar with Sasaki, and the 4:00 A.M. ET broadcast time for Thursday’s event means the boxing public won’t widely see it in the United States.

Norman Jr. (27-0, 21 KOs) chose this fight against Sasaki (19-1-1, 17 KOs) over a unification match against IBF and WBA welterweight champion Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis. That would have obviously been a better fight for Norman to take, but the risk would have been much higher than playing it safe and defending against Sasaki.

Norman Jr. vs Sasaki: Weights, Fight Details

Thursday’s Norman Jr-Sasaki fight will be staged at the Ota-City General Gymnasium in Tokyo. The event will be shown live on ESPN+ at 4:00 a.m. ET/1:00 a.m. PT). The headliner fight will be around 7:15 a.m. ET/4:15 a.m. PT

Complete Weights for Tokyo

– Brian Norman Jr – 146.8 vs. Jin Sasaki – 146.8
– Sora Tanaka 146.8 vs. Takeru Kobata 146.8
– Yuya Oku 125.4 vs. Reiya Abe 125.7
– Cristian Araneta 107.6 vs. Thanongsak Simsri 107.4

This will have the home country advantage for Sasaki, which may not be enough to help him. Norman Jr. hits hard, and he wants his opponents to fight aggressively. So, if Sasaki wants to go to war, Norman Jr. will gladly accommodate him.

Sasaki has a 78% knockout rate, but his stoppage wins have come against lesser opposition. He can definitely punch, but he’s slow.  Sasaki has yet to fight a top-tier contender during his career, but the WBO still gave him a #2 ranking. He should be ranked a lot lower, but the WBO has its reasons.