Brian Norman Jr. will put his WBO welterweight world title on the line against Japanese contender Jin Sasaki on June 19 at Ota City General Gymnasium in Tokyo. At just 24, the Atlanta native enters the ring as boxing's youngest male world champion looking to extend his perfect professional record.
The champion brings an impressive 27-0 record with 21 knockouts to this overseas challenge. Norman's journey to the top began unusually early – he turned pro at 17 and built his foundation with over a dozen early career wins in Mexico before catching the attention of major promoters.
"The Assassin" – as Norman is aptly nicknamed – joined the Top Rank stable in early 2023, setting the stage for his championship climb. His breakthrough came when he silenced San Diego fans with a statement 10th-round knockout of Giovani Santillan to claim the interim title. After being elevated to full champion status, Norman wasted no time proving his legitimacy with a dominant three-round dismantling of Puerto Rican puncher Derrieck Cuevas in March.
Interestingly, this Tokyo showdown represents Norman's first title defense on foreign soil – a true test of championship mettle.
His opponent, Jin Sasaki, brings a formidable 19-1-1 record with 17 knockouts to the championship clash. The Japanese contender has been perfect since moving to welterweight, accumulating nine victories with seven coming by knockout. Sasaki claimed the WBO Asia Pacific regional title in January 2023 with a first-round destruction of Ryota Toyoshima and has successfully defended it five times.
Worth noting, Sasaki recently went the full 12-round distance for the first time in January, outpointing Shoki Sakai on the undercard of Naoya Inoue's bout against Ye Joon Kim – valuable championship-round experience heading into this title shot.
The Tokyo card features several other notable matchups, including Japanese prodigy Sora Tanaka (3-0, 3 KOs) stepping up to a 12-round fight in just his fourth professional contest against veteran Takeru Kobata (14-7-1, 6 KOs) for the vacant OPBF welterweight title.
Fans in the United States can catch all the action streaming live on ESPN+ beginning at 4 a.m. ET on Thursday, June 19, with Norman's title defense expected to start around 7:15 a.m. ET. Can "The Assassin" continue his knockout streak in hostile territory? We'll soon find out.
