{"id":775234,"date":"2026-07-02T22:57:12","date_gmt":"2026-07-02T22:57:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/775234\/"},"modified":"2026-07-02T22:57:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-02T22:57:12","slug":"iwata-to-defend-wbc-world-title-against-undefeated-badillo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/775234\/","title":{"rendered":"Iwata to Defend WBC World Title Against Undefeated Badillo"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Iwata to Defend WBC World Title Against Undefeated Badillo<\/p>\n<p>WBC light flyweight World Champion Shokichi Iwata will put his title on the line against undefeated Mexican challenger Erik Badillo in a bout that will pit experience against youth for the 108-pound crown.<\/p>\n<p>The fight represents the most important opportunities of the Mexican contender\u2019s career. The bout is scheduled for Monday, July 20, at the Kokugikan Arena in Tokyo, Japan.<\/p>\n<p>Iwata has established himself as one of the division\u2019s most impressive champions, thanks to his aggression, punching power, and tactical discipline. He now faces the challenge of successfully defending his crown against a hungry challenger who remains unbeaten in the professional ranks.<\/p>\n<p>Badillo, meanwhile, will look to seize the opportunity to become a world champion and continue the legacy of great Mexican champions in the lighter weight classes. The clash promises to be a defining test for both fighters and could mark the beginning of a new chapter in the division.<\/p>\n<p id=\"pvc_stats_187442\" class=\"pvc_stats all  pvc_load_by_ajax_update\" data-element-id=\"187442\" style=\"\"> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"16\" height=\"16\" alt=\"Loading\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1764343693_289_ajax-loader-2x.gif\" border=\"0\"\/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Iwata to Defend WBC World Title Against Undefeated Badillo WBC light flyweight World Champion Shokichi Iwata will put&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":775235,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[571],"tags":[64,63,802,85],"class_list":["post-775234","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-boxing","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/775234","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=775234"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/775234\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/775235"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=775234"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=775234"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=775234"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}