By Jake Donovan

Takashi Uchiyama and Jomthong Chuwatana are set for their junior lightweight title fight, Wednesday evening in Tokyo, Japan.

With the extended absence of former 130 lb. titlist Mikey Garcia, the junior lightweight division turned to Uchiyama (22-0-1, 18KOs) as its de facto leader. It could be argued that it was already an honor unofficialy bestowed upon the 35-year old dating back to his title-winning 12th round knockout of Juan Carlos Salgado in Jan. '10.

Ten defenses have followed, including a 9th round stoppage of Argentina's Israel Perez last New Year's Eve. Wednesday's contest marks Uchiyama's fourth straight fight at Ota-City Gym in Tokyo.

Chuwatana (9-0, 4KOs) may boast the record of a novice, but the former kickboxer has certainly come up the hard way and in a hurry. The precocious talent fights in Japan for his fourth straight start, in fact with just four career fights actually taking place in his native Japan. The 25-year old challenger is coming off of a hard-fought 12-round win over former title challenger Daiki Kaneko in January.

The bout will air on TV Tokyo in Japan. Read on to see how the staff at BoxingScene.com believes the fight will play out.

BOXINGSCENE.COM STAFF PREDICTIONS: TAKASHI UCHIYAMA vs. JOMTHONG CHUWATANA

Jake Donovan (Draw): Yup, I've wussed out of picking this one. Uchiyama is due for a loss. It won't come today, but Chuwatana will come closer than anyone else, pushng the defending but aged champ to the brink, only to have to settle for a three-way tie in the end.

James Goyder (Uchiyama Dec.): Too close to call, gonna go with Uchiyama ust because the fight is in Japan and it could be close on the scorecard.

Takahiro Onaga (Chuwatana Dec): The Thai will be too quick for KO Dynamite.

Cliff Rold (Uchiyama Dec.): Uchiyama has been showing some age but Chuwatana didn't look so impressive with Kaneko that one can ignore his lack of experience.

Victor Salazar (Uchiyama KO8): The power for Uchiyama is still there and while Chuvatana may be on his level someday, today won't be the day.

Alexey Sukachev (Uchiyama TKO10): Uchiyama's style of power boxing shouldn't be affected by his natural aging anytime soon. The Japanese fighter is a relentless boxer-puncher. Chuvatana looks to be an enigma with some solid skills, which is proven by his road wins against second-tier Asian contenders. Is he good enough to make it at a higher level? Yes. Will he do this? I doubt just because he is matched against the best champion of the division with that little experience. He can follow in footsteps of some other Thais, like Sod Chitalada, who earned much needed experience through a defeat and crafted it into a world title in a couple of years after.

Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox