In one night, boxers Miel Fajardo and Zyvyr Medecilo could join Pedro Taduran as the only three Filipino boxing world champions.
Fajardo and Medecilo can join Taduran in that esteemed class on November 26 when each gets a world title shot in the same boxing card to be held at the Ebara Wave Arena in Tokyo, Japan. It won’t be easy, however, as the two Filipinos will be facing hometown bets Masamichi Yabuki and Takeshi Ishii, respectively.
Miel Fajardo vs. Masamichi Yabuki
Miel Fajardo (14-3-2, 12 KOs) will be taking on Masamichi Yabuki (20-4, 18 KOs) for the latter’s IBF flyweight world championship in the card’s main event.
Yabuki is a knockout artist and a multi-division champion, having previously won the WBC and IBF belts at light flyweight. He won the IBF flyweight crown in March 2025 with a 12th-round KO of Angel Ayala and successfully defended it twice—first against Felix Alvarado via 12th-round KO in December 2025 and most recently against Rene Calixto by unanimous decision in June 2026. He is currently on a seven-fight winning streak dating back to 2022.
Miel Fajardo, meanwhile, is an explosive puncher himself, having won 12 of his 14 fights inside the distance. He is coming off back-to-back wins, the latter of which—a first-round TKO of Tobias Reyes in a title eliminator—earned him the fight against Yabuki.
“Sa dayo-dayo, sanay na rin ako. Kaya ang gagawin lang namin, ‘yung ginagawa namin sa ensayo,” said Fajardo about fighting on hostile grounds. “Sa akin, ang motivation ko pagtapak sa ring ay isipin ko ‘yung family ko, para sa team. Gagawin talaga namin ang makakaya namin sa taas ng ring.”
Zyvyr Medecilo vs. Takeshi Ishii
For the same card’s main event, Zyvyr Medecilo gets a world title shot against Takeshi Ishii, the WBA (Regular) minimumweight champion.
Ishii (12-1, 9 KOs) won the crown in impressive fashion, authoring a Japanese boxing record by knocking out former WBO champ Wilfredo Méndez via first-round KO in just 65 seconds—the fastest ever by a Japanese boxer. He is currently on a five-match winning streak.
Medecilo (9-0, 5 KOs), on the other hand, is an unbeaten prospect steadily rising up the ranks. He is also coming off back-to-back spectacular wins, bagging the vacant WBC International minimumweight title with a ninth-round TKO of Japanese boxer Tatsuro Nakashima in May earlier this year and stopping former regional champion Jonathan Refugio in Round 3 in February. Little wonder then that he is coming in full of confidence.
“Actually, ready-ready na po kasi pagkatapos ko ng laban sa WBC, nag-ensayo kagad ako kasi nagsabi si boss sa akin na hindi matatapos itong taong ito, lalaban na tayo ng world championship,” Medecilo said. “Sabi ko nga sa boss ko atsaka kay coach, ensayo tayo tuloy-tuloy. Tapos nabigyan ako ng kontrata ng sparring, ensayo, sparring, hanggang dito na po. Nakaabot na ako sa world title shot.”
Aside from winning a world title, Zyvyr Medecilo could also become the fastest Filipino to win a world championship should he beat Ishii, breaking the record set by Malcolm Tuñacao, who won his world title in his 11th fight.
Miel Fajardo and Zyvyr Medecilo will fly to Japan about a week before their title fights to give them enough time to acclimate to the cool Japan climate this time of the year.
