Gladiator Women’s Flyweight Champion Chihiro Imoto is set to make the first defence of her title on April 26th at Gladiator 84 in Osaka, Japan. The 17-year-old standout kickboxer faces off against unbeaten South Korean challenger Ok Soon Park, who makes her Gladiator debut in the fight.

Imoto announced the title fight earlier this month. She captured the belt in September with a dominant Unanimous Decision victory over Miyu Irie at Gladiator 75. Her opponent on next month’s card, Park, has won all five of her professional fights and plans to leave Gladiator 84 with the title.

Imoto (135-18-1 amateur; 6-0-1 pro) turned pro in late 2012 following a stellar 154-fight amateur career and captured the 48kg ACCEL Vassilis Women’s Championship in her professional debut. She made three successful title defences, but travel troubles contributed to Imoto’s failure to make weight for an August 2014 title rematch against Haruka. She was stripped of the belt as a result and the bout ended in a draw due to an additional two-point penalty that Imoto incurred. Undeterred, she bounced back with a win over Irie one month later to capture Gladiator gold and now makes her first title defence.

Park (2-0-0 amateur; 5-0-0 pro) has followed up on her brief and unblemished amateur career by winning five straight pro bouts in her home country. The 39-year-old is more than twice the age of her opponent next month, but she should hold a size and strength advantage over the champion, Imoto. Park has trained with high-level fighters throughout her career and sports a well-rounded striking skill set. She makes her Gladiator debut in the title fight and hopes to bring the belt back home to South Korea.

Gladiator 84 takes place on April 26th at Abeno Kumin Center Small Hall in Osaka, Japan.

Hirofumi Sugi contributed to this report.

(Photo Credit: RISE)