Junior featherweights Luis Rosa Jr. and Ryosuke Iwasa will square off with a world title opportunity on the line Nov. 19 at the Foxwoods Resort Casino in Mashantucket, Connecticut, promoter Lou DiBella has announced.
The fight at 122 pounds will headline DiBella's Broadway Boxing series as Rosa (22-0, 10 KOs), from nearby New Haven, Connecticut, meets Japan's Iwasa (22-2, 14 KOs). The winner will earn a mandatory world title shot against Jonathan Guzman (22-0, 22 KOs), the Dominican power puncher who won the belt by 11th-round knockout of Shingo Wake on July 20 in Japan.
"New Haven's Luis Rosa Jr. is set for the toughest and most important challenge of his career against Iwasa," DiBella said. "The winner will become the mandatory challenger for the IBF junior featherweight world championship."
Rosa, 27, who was born in Puerto Rico, is coming off a first-round no-decision against Luis Hinojosa on June 30 because of an accidental head butt.
"I know Iwasa has faced some good competition, but I'm looking to do damage quick and end the fight early," Rosa said. "I'm going for the knockout, but I'm going to be smart about it. I know he's a southpaw and he's a little tall, he's slick and fast, but he throws basic combinations and we're going to work around that.
"The world title is within my reach, and there's nothing that's going to stop me from going out there and grabbing it. On Nov. 19, I'm going to show the world that I'm coming to take over the junior featherweight division."
Iwasa, 26, has lost only to top opposition. In 2011, Shinsuke Yamanaka knocked him out in the 10th round of a Japanese bantamweight title fight; Yamanaka won a bantamweight world in his next bout and has made 11 defenses.
In June 2015, Iwasa lost by sixth-round knockout to Lee Haskins in an interim bantamweight title bout, but he has won three fights in a row since.
"This is a great opportunity to put me back in line for an IBF championship," he said. "This will be my first fight in the United States and I know that I will be in Rosa's backyard, but that will not bother me. Rosa is skilled with good power, but I will prove that I am the better fighter."
Besides additional undercard fights, the card also will feature amateur bouts with boxers representing West Point, the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, University of Massachusetts, University of Connecticut and Trinity College.