Live results: Brian Norman Jr KO’s Jin Sasaki to retain title – Video

The photos from the Brian Norman Jr vs Jin Sasaki showdown are now published.

Brian Norman Jr (28-0, 22 KOs) of Decatur, GA knocks out Japanese contender Jin Sasaki (19-2-1, 17 KOs) in the fifth round to make the second successful defense of his WBO welterweight title. Norman dropped Sasaki with a big left hook.

Brian Norman Jr wastes no time, sending Jin Sasaki to the canvas twice in the opening round.

The main event features unbeaten champion Brian Norman Jr (27-0, 21 KOs) of Decatur, GA against once-beaten contender Jin Sasaki (19-1-1, 17 KOs) of Japan. Norman Jr makes the second defense of his WBO welterweight title after stopping Derrieck Cuevas in the third round in March. Sasaki brings to the ring seven straight victories and makes his first attempt to become champion. The bout is scheduled for 12 rounds.

The co-main event ends inside the distance as Sora Tanaka (4-0, 4 KOs) defeats fellow Japanese Takeru Kobata (14-8-1, 6 KOs) by TKO in the fourth round. With the victory, Tanaka wins the vacant OPBF welterweight title.

The co-main event is an all-Japanese clash between Sora Tanaka (3-0, 3 KOs) and Takeru Kobata (14-7-1, 6 KOs). Unbeaten Tanaka stopped Ador Torres in March. Kobata lost a unanimous decision against David Ssemujju last December. The bout is scheduled for 12 rounds with the vacant OPBF title on the line.

Reiya Abe (27-4-2, 10 KOs) defeats Yuya Oku (8-1-2, 5 KOs) by unanimous decision to win the vacant Japanese featherweight title for the second time in his career. After 10 rounds, the judges scored the fight 97-93, 96-94, and 96-94.

Up next, Yuya Oku (8-0-2, 5 KOs) and Reiya Abe (26-4-2, 10 KOs) battle it out for the vacant Japanese featherweight title. The bout is scheduled for 10 rounds. Unbeaten Oku fought Kyohei Tonomoto to a majority draw last November. Former champion Abe was in action in March, also fighting Satoshi Shimizu to a majority draw. The belt was previously held by Keisuke Matsumoto (12-0, 8 KOs), who hasn’t fought since last October, when he KO’d Kimihiro Nakagawa in the second round, marking his fourth successful title defense.

Thanongsak Simsri (39-1, 34 KOs) of Thailand becomes the new IBF super strawweight champion, defeating Cristian Araneta (25-3, 20 KOs) of the Philippines by split decision. After 12 rounds, the scores were 115-112, 113-114, and 116-111. On his way to victory, Simsri suffered a knockdown in the third round.

In the third preliminary bout, Japan’s Yuito Moriwaki (1-0) makes a successful pro debut, defeating Ha So Baek (3-2, 2 KOs) of Mongolia by unanimous decision. The eight-round super middleweight matchup ended with scores of 79-72, 78-73, and 77-74.

Kicking off the main card, Cristian Araneta (25-2, 20 KOs) of the Philippines faces Thanongsak Simsri (38-1, 34 KOs) of Thailand. The bout is scheduled for 12 rounds with the vacant IBF super strawweight title on the line. Araneta has won six fights since dropping a unanimous decision to Sivenathi Nontshinga in April 2021. Both fighters make their first attempt to become a champion.

In case you missed it – here’s the highlight video from the press conference, as Brian Norman Jr and Jin Sasaki preview their bout and come face-to-face.

The featherweight bout ends inside the distance, as Ren Ohashi (4-0, 4 KOs) stops Guangheng Luan (13-9-2, 9 KOs) in the fifth round.

On the Norman vs Sasaki non-televised prelims, Seiya Yamaguchi (4-1, 2 KOs) defeats Ryosuke Kiuchi (3-4-1, 2 KOs) by unanimous decision. After four rounds at lightweight, the judges scored the fight 40-35, 39-36, and 39-36.

Jin Sasaki goes up against Brian Norman Jr looking for his eighth win in a row. In his second fight of 2024, the 23-year-old contender from Hachioji, Tokyo dominated and stopped Qamil Balla in the seventh round. In the leadup to tonight’s event, Top Rank released a highlight video from that fight.

At the official weigh-in ceremony, Brian Norman Jr and Jin Sasaki went face-to-face for the final time ahead of their bout.

Brian Norman Jr became champion last May, when he stopped Giovani Santillan in the 10th round at Pechanga Arena San Diego. In case you missed it – the full fight video is now streaming.

Norman vs Sasaki airs live on ESPN+. The start time in the U.S. is 4:00 AM ET / 1:00 AM PT. The main event ring walks are expected at approximately 7:15 AM / 4:15 AM PT. A VPN service, such as ExpressVPN, may be useful for streaming from a different location.