By Jake Donovan

Takashi Uchiyama and Jomthong Chuwatana both made weight for their junior lightweight title fight, Wednesday evening in Tokyo, Japan.

Uchiyama tipped the scales at 129.5 lbs. for the 11th defense of the title he won more than five years ago. Chawatana checked in at 129 lbs. for his first major title fight.

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 unofficially 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. The televised co-feature pits Ryoichi Taguchi (21-2-1, 8KOs) in the first defense of his 108 lb. title, facing Thailand's Kwanthai Sithmorseng (49-3-1, 26KOs). 

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