Last summer, Pedro Taduran upset Ginjiro Shigeoka to win the IBF strawweight title.

Now, 10-months later, the two will meet in a rematch in the chief support to IBF titleholder Angelo Leo's mandatory defense against Tomoki Kameda, at the Intex Osaka, Osaka, Japan, on May 24.

In their first meeting the highly touted Shigeoka (11-1, 9 knockouts) was widely expected to beat Taduran (17-4-1, 13 Kos). However, the Filipino had other ideas and scored a ninth-round stoppage. The defending champion was heavily marked up around the right eye which was later revealed to be an orbital fracture.

Neither man has fought since their July meeting. Ginjiro will hope to avoid the same fate that befell his elder brother Yudai, who recently lost a rematch to Melvin Jerusalem, having previously lost to him.

"Since I got defeated badly last time, my goal is to show a surprising, changed appearance and then defeat him in a solid way to win hopefully by KO," Shigeoka told The Ring.

"I am training hard for that moment. I have about a month and a half left which I will train hard and do my best!"

Taduran, rated at No. 2 by The Ring at strawweight, turned professional at 18 and won 12 of his first 13 fights capturing the Filipino national title. He made an ambitious attempt at the vastly more experienced Wanheng Menayothin (L UD 12) for the WBC title in Thailand in 2018. After returning to winning ways, he got off the canvas to beat previously unbeaten compatriot Samuel Salva (RTD 4) to win the vacant IBF title.

The heavy-handed 28-year-old drew with Daniel Valladares (TD 4) and twice lost to Rene Mark Cuarto (UD 12/ TD 7). He won two fights, including one over compatriot Jake Amparo (UD 12) and upset touted Shigeoka (TKO 9) to regain his old IBF title.

Shigeoka, rated at No. 4 by The Ring at strawweight, was a standout amateur before turning pro in September 2018. He notably stopped former world title challenger Rey Loreto (KO 5) in his fifth bout. Had it not been for the pandemic – he didn't fight for 18-months – the diminutive 25-year-old southpaw may have already won a world title.

He was doing a number on Daniel Valladares before the fight was curtailed due to a head-clash that ruled the fight a no-contest. He impressively defeated Rene Mark Cuarto (TKO 9) and then took apart Valladares (TKO 5) to claim the IBF title. He has since defended it once against late-sub Jake Amparo (KO 2) before being surprisingly upset by Taduran (TKO 9).