Deep Jewels has announced a strong lineup for its 10th anniversary event, which will take place on September 10th at New Pier Hall in Tokyo, Japan. Deep Jewels 42 is headlined by a 44kg microweight title bout between Suwanan “Amp The Rocket” Boonsorn and challenger Aya Murakami.
In the 49kg super atomweight co-main event, Rizin FF contender Si Woo “Korean Queen Bee” Park returns to Deep Jewels to battle Namiko “Hime” Kawabata. Also in the growing super atomweight division, Moeri Suda and Kate “Lotus” Oyama will face off in a key matchup between prospects.
Boonsorn (5-4-0) was a part of the inaugural Deep Jewels Microweight Championship tournament, which began at Deep Jewels 28 in February 2020. She easily won her semi-final bout against Emi Sato to advance to the final, but that planned bout never took place due to the COVID-19 lockdowns and opponent Mizuki Furuse’s one-year hiatus due to her pregnancy. Boonsorn was awarded the title as a result, and will now make her first defence. She made her long-awaited return to Deep Jewels in May, but suffered a first-round submission loss to Seika Izawa in their super atomweight matchup.
Murakami (6-1-0) has had success at both microweight and atomweight under the Deep and Deep Jewels banners, and she has already faced many skilled opponents during her three-year pro career. Her lone defeat came in a rematch against Moeri Suda this past September, but Murakami has since rebounded with two decision victories to get herself back on track. Murakami is undefeated at 3-0 in the microweight division and most notably submitted MMA pioneer and former Valkyrie champion Yasuko “Ikuko” Tamada when they faced each other in October 2021.
Park (9-5-0) last competed for Deep Jewels more than two years ago when she was defeated by Saori Oshima in the semi-finals of the Deep Jewels Atomweight Grand Prix in June 2021. She has since become a breakout star for Rizin FF, winning three of her four fights for the promotion including big victories over Rena Kubota and former champion Ayaka Hamasaki. Park’s most recent fight for Rizin ended in a controversial Split Decision loss when she was very narrowly defeated by Seika Izawa in their super atomweight title rematch at Rizin FF 40.
Kawabata (4-2-0) scored a huge victory in her fourth pro fight when she upset Oshima in a non-title super atomweight bout at Deep Jewels 36, then followed that up with a 37-second destruction of Yuko Kiryu at Deep Jewels 38. However, Kawabata’s move back up to strawweight ended in a decisive loss, as she was choked out by Machi Fukuda late in the first round of their fight at Deep Jewels 40 in February. Kawabata now returns to super atomweight in search of another big win that could further move her up the rankings in the competitive division.
Suda (8-5-0), after earning five straight wins, challenged for the Deep Jewels Atomweight Championship at just 17 years of age in May 2022. Her title bid ended in a first-round technical submission loss to Oshima, but Suda won three of her next four fights and avenged a loss to Murakami in the process. Her most recent fight ended in a TKO loss to Jeong Eun “Little Wolf” Park at Deep Jewels 41, which Suda will now look to rebound from.
Oyama (4-5-0) struggled to live up tp the considerable hype behind her during her first six fights, winning just two of them, but progrssive moves down in weight have led to better performances and recent success. The former flyweight took a Split Decision win over Eru Takebayashi in a 50kg bout at Deep Jewels 38 and has since gone 1-1 at super atomweight. She is coming off of a victory over newcomer Saki Kitamura at Deep Jewels 41 in May.
In a featured strawweight matchup on the card, veteran contender Hikaru Aono (9-6-0) squares off against Yuko Kiryu (12-10-0). Aono’s bid for the Deep Jewels Atomweight Championship ended in a defeat to Oshima in 2021. She scored a Unanimous Decision win over Kate Oyama in February. Kiryu returned to Deep Jewels in late 2021 following back-to-back wins for ONE Championship. She ran her winning streak to five before suffering recent stoppage losses to Kawabata and Suda.
Rounding out the professional portion of the card, Nori (5-6-1) takes on Momoko Saito (1-0-0 amateur) at flyweight, Momoko Yamazaki (3-4-0) meets Reina Kobayashi (2-3-0) in a 44kg microweight bout, Eru Takebayashi (3-3-0, 1 NC) battles Saki Kitamura (0-1-0) in a 50kg matchup, Kyoka “Chibisai” Minagawa (2-3-0) faces Akari Kamise (1-1-0) at microweight, Yuka “Dosukoi” Okutomi (1-0-0) and Haruka “Boss” Suzuki (0-1-0) rematch at flyweight, and Yuko “Pochan Z” Matsuura (0-4-0) seeks her first win when she takes on Chieko Hosoya (1-1-0) at lightweight.
In amateur preliminary card action, Sarah (3-2-0 amateur) faces Anouk Rossen (2-1-0 amateur) at strawweight, and Misaki Suda (1-3-0 amateur) welcomes Miku Makihara (0-0-0 amateur) to Deep Jewels in a super atomweight bout.
Deep Jewels 42 takes place on September 10th at New Pier Hall in Tokyo, Japan.
Deep Jewels 42 Fight Card (to date; subject to change):
– Suwanan “Amp The Rocket” Boonsorn vs Aya Murakami [44kg Microweight Title Bout – 3×5]
– Si Woo “Korean Queen Bee” Park vs Namiko “Hime” Kawabata [49kg Bout – 3×5]
– Moeri Suda vs Kate “Lotus” Oyama [49kg Bout – 2×5]
– Hikaru Aono vs Yuko Kiryu [Strawweight Bout – 2×5]
– Nori vs Momoko Saito [Flyweight Bout – 2×5]
– Momoko Yamazaki vs Reina Kobayashi [44kg Microweight Bout – 2×5]
– Eru Takebayashi vs Saki Kitamura [50kg Bout – 2×5]
– Kyoka “Chibisai” Minagawa vs Akari Kamise [44kg Microweight Bout – 2×5]
– Yuka Okutomi vs Haruka “Boss” Suzuki [Flyweight Bout – 2×5]
– Yuko “Pochan Z” Matsuura vs Chieko Hosoya [Lightweight Bout – 2×5]
– Sarah vs Anouk Rossen [Amateur Strawweight Bout – 2×3]
– Misaki Suda vs Miku Makihara [Amateur 49kg Bout – 2×3]
(Photo Credit: Deep Jewels)