WPMF Japan Women’s Pinweight Champion Saya Ito makes the first defence of her title on April 5th at Muaylok: “The Battle of Muay Thai 7” in Tokyo, Japan. The 16-year-old “Muay Thai Genius” is set to face J-Girls Pinweight Champion Chihiro Kira in a five-round bout on the card.

Officials announced the championship fight this past week. Ito avenged a past loss and captured the WPMF title in September when she edged out Haru “Taj Mahal” Tajima. She most recently defeated Kira’s sister, Yuuki, in December. Kira won a one-night J-Nexus tournament on December 20th.

Ito (78-12-3 amateur, 3-2-1 pro) got off to a rocky start in her pro career following a 93-fight amateur run that included numerous title reigns. She won her pro debut in April, but went 0-2-1 in her next three fights against quality opposition including Tajima in the pair’s first meeting in May. Ito got herself back on track by defeating Tajima in a September WPMF title rematch and made it two in a row by posting a Unanimous Decision victory over Yuuki Kira at “The Battle of Muay Thai 6” this past month.

Kira (11-3-1 KB/SB) enjoyed the best year of her career thus far in 2014, winning all five of her fights and capturing the J-Girls 100-pound pinweight title in the process. On December 20th, she defeated highly-touted prospect Yukari Yamaguchi and Yoshimi in succession to win a 46kg J-Nexus tournament. The win over Yoshimi avenged Kira’s lone professional loss under kickboxing rules. She now looks to even the score with Ito, who defeated her in an amateur bout at Jewels: “15th Ring” in July 2011.

Muaylok: “The Battle of Muay Thai 7” takes place on April 5th at Shinjuku FACE in Tokyo, Japan. The title bout between Ito and Kira will be contested over five 2:00 rounds.

(Photo Credit: Shobukai)