NAGOYA – Kosei Tanaka will defend his WBO light flyweight title for the first time when he takes on Angel Acosta of Puerto Rico in May, his Hatanaka Boxing Gym announced Tuesday.

The 21-year-old Tanaka will put his title on the line at Teva Ocean Arena in Nagoya on May 20, when he faces top-ranked challenger Acosta.

The 26-year-old Acosta is 16-0 (16KOs).

“Not only are his punches strong, but he’s got solid counters. He’s a boxer with all-around skills,” Tanaka said after watching him fight in an elimination bout in Puerto Rico last month.

“Either way it will come down to a KO. It will be that kind of match. He’s an opponent I have to beat. I’ll beat him by flooring him.”

Tanaka also has a perfect record, with five of his eight wins by knockout.

IN OTHER NEWS: The President of the World Boxing Council, Mauricio Sulaiman Saldivar, has visited the President of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, Dr. Tabare Vazquez Rosas, in Montevideo, Uruguay.

President Tabare Vazquez, who`s serving his second Presidential term, was a keen amateur boxer in his youth. He spent more than an hour at a meeting with Mr. Mauricio Sulaiman, who was accompanied by the Uruguayan international promoter Sampson Lewkowicz, as well as the President of the Uruguayan Amateur and Professional Boxing Commission (CUBAP), Sergio Marquez and the Director of the Punta del Este Convention Center, Roberto Berrondo.

They addressed the creation of a national plan for boxing, to benefit of children and youth, finding a constructive way to get ahead in life and to combat the evils that commonly threaten society including drug addiction , alcoholism, vandalism and the abandonment of physical exercise, due to the influence of smartphones and other convenient electronic devices.

CUBAP will celebrate the finals of the First Amateur Boxing Tournament "José Sulaiman" in which more than 500 boxers participated and the four winners will be earn the opportunity to train in Mexico.

President Tabare Vazquez joins the large list of famous people and great personalities who`ve participated in our beloved boxing sport. These are: Pope Francis, Nelson Mandela, Mexico's Presidents Adolfo Lopez Mateos and Jose Lopez Portillo, Cantinflas, Charles Chaplin and so many more.

President Tabare Vazquez did not hide his great emotion when he was proudly presented with the green and gold belt from President Sulaimán, as a form of gratitude and recognition for his unconditional support for boxing. And together they agreed that today a new era of Uruguayan boxing is born.