Brian Norman Jr. Vs. Jin Sasaki Preview

Brian Norman Jr. takes on Jin Sasaki on June 19 as we preview this upcoming fight. 

Norman Jr. makes the second defense of his WBO Welterweight Title, which he acquired after beating Giovani Santillan for the interim belt. Once Terence Crawford moved up to 154 pounds, Norman Jr. was elevated to a full champion. He defended it successfully by stopping Derrieck Cuevas in the third round in his previous bout. That win took his record to 27-0, with 21 knockouts to his name.
Meanwhile, Sasaki enters the fight with a unanimous decision win against Shoki Sakai. The win took his record to 19-1-1, having boxed in Japan for all his career. Norman Jr. is the biggest name on his resume, as the winner takes a step closer to unifying at 147. 

Preview

“Jin is perfect for exciting fights. That boy do not like going the distance. He’s about action and entertainment. You see why the Japanese fans love him. With me, you see what happened when I won the title – we went to war. I’m willing to go to war again. May the best win. I’m focused on my fight June 19,” Norman pointed out. “By June 20, we can get talking. Right now, I’m focused on my mission.

“I found it [Ennis’ comments] very disrespectful. That said, this is a business, and business is a cold game. From that side of it, he was trying to do the best for his side of the street. He painted the narrative of the other champions – me and [WBC titlist Mario] Barrios – as ducks, that we don’t want the fight. That allows him to claim that he got the boogeyman,” Norman Jr. said 

“I think [Jaron ‘Boots] Ennis and Norman are the strongest of the four welterweight world champions. “If I can beat Norman, I can confidently say I’m the real world welterweight champion. He’s just that good of a fighter. I’m also glad he said he wants to come to Japan,” Sasaki stated