Garcia vs Teraji Predictions: Sorry Naoya and Junto, but this one is stealing the show

IBF super flyweight champion Willibaldo Garcia defends his crown for the first time against Kenshiro Teraji this Saturday, December 27. The fight takes place at the Mohammed Abdo Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. DAZN will screen the event live, with Naoya Inoue taking on David Picasso in the main event.

Stay tuned for my Garcia vs Teraji predictions.

Garcia vs Teraji Odds

The champion won the title as an underdog and he is back in that position again, priced at 18/5 to prevail. The draw is marketed at 16/1 while Teraji is a 2/9 favourite to win the championship.

Garcia vs Teraji Fight Preview

The Ring V: Night of the Samurai is a card built to showcase Japanese boxing. The main event sees Inoue, the country’s premiere boxing export, take on Picasso. The co-main event pits next three-weight world king Junto Nakatani against Sebastian Hernandez while unbeaten prospects Taiga Imanaga and Reito Tsutsumi get a run out.

Against this backdrop, it is no surprise that Teraji is well-backed to net a world title at his third weight. The 33-year-old might have outgrown his ‘Amazing Boy’ nickname, but he remains capable of stupendous feats.

Teraji is coming off just the second lost of his 11-year professional career. The Kyoto man relinquished his WBC and WBA flyweight straps to Ricardo Sandoval via split decision. A spirited battle could have gone either way. Teraji set up a lightning straight right in the fifth that had his man down. But the underdog Sandoval rallied to take the points nod. 

Teraji avenged his only other professional defeat swiftly. When the Japanese star lost his WBA light flyweight belt by 10th-round TKO to Masamichi Yabuki in 2021, he recovered it in an immediate rematch. A ruthless three-round destruction of his conqueror was emphatic.

This time, Teraji has been forced to take a different tack. The WBC ordered Sandoval to fight Galal Yafai in a mandatory defence. With that fight expected in the first quarter of 2026, Teraji has instead opted for a fight that will enhance his legacy at a third weight.

Garcia enhanced his legacy in his last bout, as he became one of boxing’s unlikelier world champions. A split decision win over Rene Calixto was the second close fight the pair shared in successive bouts. Calixto was expected to claim the vacant IBF super flyweight belt in their first encounter. But Garcia fought his heart out in a bitterly-close split draw. 

A contender for 2024 Fight of the Year, the twosome who had shared a gruesome and bloody first fight gave us a second this past May. The second contest lived up to the furious promise of the sinew-straining first. This time, Garcia pulled it out of the bag by the narrowest of margins. 

At the age of 35, you wonder when Garcia’s body clock will put a stop to the savage wars he finds himself in. I predicted Calixto would beat him in their rematch, as I felt the veteran had taken too much leather in the first. But after another 12 brutal rounds, Garcia stands proudly as world champion. After losing four of his first six pro bouts, few expected him to be here in 2025 defend a major belt.

Losses to Paul Butler and Alexandre Santiago, who both went on to win world titles, seemed to put a cap on Garcia’s rise. But his 2021 defeat to Cheshire’s butler was the last loss Garcia suffered. Eleven wins and one draw have followed since and the Mexican deserves his late-career success.

Teraji looks well-equipped to bring it to an end. But Garcia knows as well as anyone; upsets can happen in this game.

Garcia vs Teraji Full Card

Naoya Inoue vs David Picasso

Junto Nakatani vs Sebastian Hernandez Reyes

Willibaldo Garcia Perez vs Kenshiro Teraji

Taiga Imanaga vs Eridson Garcia

Reito Tsutsumi vs Leobardo Quintana Sanchez

Garcia vs Teraji Prediction

This bout should be the fight of the night on Saturday. Teraji loves a tear-up. Check out his war with Carlos Canizales to get a feel for his fury as well as his vulnerability. This is a boxer who lays it all on the line. 

That last line could just as easily describe Garcia. The Mexican comes to fight. Do not expect a textbook boxing performance. Garcia is not a ‘hit but don’t get hit’ boxer. He will swing for the fences against an opponent I expect to do the same.

We do not know yet how Teraji’s power will look up at super flyweight. At flyweight the stoppages were still coming, but they were coming late. Teraji’s victories at the weight came in the 11th round against Cristofer Rosales and in the 12th against Seigo Yuri Akui. 

Garcia will be throwing power shots for as long as he is still standing. I’m not sure Teraji does enough to take him out. But I think the Japanese star will still win, without ever fully dissuading Garcia. There is no Method of Victory market as I write this, so until then I’ll go Teraji to win at 2/9. But if the Teraji points market is live when you read this, that’s where I’d be looking.

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