Honda said WBA No. 1 Nobuo Nashiro and No. 2 Kohei Kono will slug it out for the vacant 115-lb crown on Sept. 15 in Tokyo.

Banal is rated No. 4, while Concepcion is No. 7 and it was earlier agreed that the fight be elevated to a regular fight for the vacant title when all the leading contenders could not make commitments. The other leading contenders Alexander Muñoz of Venezuela, Daengpetch Seangmorakot of Thailand and Roberto Vazquez of Panama, were unavailable when negotiations were underway for the Banal-Concepcion match was taking place.

But with the entry of Honda’s influential Teiken Promotions into the scene, the WBA was compelled to sanction the Nashiro-Kono bout as for the vacant championship.

Still, the winner of the Banal-Concepcion this Saturday night at the Cebu Coliseum will be awarded the WBA title belt and will be judged by neutral officials from foreign countries. The winner will also automatically get a chance to fight for the regular title that will be disputed by the two Japanese by the end of the year.

The official weigh-in will be held tomorrow at 11 a.m.

The 19-year-old Banal, who holds a 17-0-1 win-loss-draw card with 14 knockouts, is the Philippines’ brightest prospect for a world title.

Fighting out of Tony Aldeguer’s boxing factory in Cebu, Banal is slightly favored to send Concepcion home in tears.

Concepcion trained long and hard for his first campaign outside South America by honing his skills at Gleason’s Gym in New York.

Nicknamed "El Torito" (Little Bull). Concepcion has a 10-2-1 mark with six kayoes. He also avenged his two defeats by getting back at the two men who beat him earlier in his career.