On April 22, 2022, Kai Ishizawa and Masataka Taniguchi met again in a rematch.
Ishizawa came in to the fight on a 4-fight win streak with a 81% KO rate, and was fighting after a gap of 3 months and 11 days. Taniguchi was on a 4-fight win streak with a 55% KO rate, and fighting after a layoff of 4 months and 8 days.
In the rematch, Masataka Taniguchi stopped Kai Ishizawa via TKO in the 11th round of the 12-round world-title fight, and successfully defended his WBO strawweight title. Taniguchi improves his record to 16-3 (11 KOs), while Ishizawa adds a loss to his record at 10-2.
On September 21, 2019, a 22-year-old Kai Ishizawa (6-0, 6 KOs) and a 25-year-old fellow Japanese boxer Masataka Taniguchi (11-3, 7 KOs) met in the ring.
Ishizawa came in to the fight on a 6-fight win streak with a 100% KO rate, and was fighting after a gap of 3 months and 20 days. Taniguchi was on a -1-fight win streak with a 50% KO rate, and fighting after a layoff of 6 months and 26 days.
Masataka Taniguchi defeated Kai Ishizawa via unanimous decision in the 8-round fight. Taniguchi improves his record to 12-3, while Ishizawa adds a loss to his record at 6-1.