Carlos Carlson did not let a loss in his pro debut deter him from his dream of fighting for a world title belt.

Instead, he plugged away, fighting in dimly-lit halls in his hometown of Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico before a Southern California promoter took a chance on him.

After putting together 22 straight victories since then, Carlson gets his title shot.

Carlson will challenge THE RING Magazine bantamweight champion Shinsuke Yamanaka, who also holds the WBC title, on March 2 in Tokyo, Japan, Thompson Boxing Promotions announced Monday morning.

It will be Carlson’s first 12-round bout, having never fought past the eighth round.

Carlson (22-1, 13 knockouts) lost his pro debut in March of 2011 to Andres Tapia. He won his next 11 bouts before signing on with Thompson Boxing Promotions in 2013.

Thompson Boxing Promotions, based in Southern California, has promoted Timothy Bradley, Josesito Lopez, Mauricio Herrera and Yonnhy Perez. The company currently promotes junior featherweight contender Danny Roman, who scored an impressive knockout victory over Adam Lopez on January 20.

Carlson has been a staple of the monthly Thompson Boxing club shows, which take place in the Los Angeles suburbs of Ontario and Corona.

In his most recent bout on Sept. 23, Carlson survived a first round knockdown to stop Alex Rangel in the third round.

Carlson, who is ranked No. 9 by the WBC, will be a voluntary defense for Yamanaka.

“It’s, without question, the toughest fight of my career,” said Carlson. “All the hard work and sacrifices have built up to this moment and I’m going to seize this opportunity. I know there’s a lot of work to do to prepare for someone like Yamanaka (but) I’ll be coming home a world champion.”

“Carlson is ready to do whatever it takes to become a world champion,” said Ken Thompson, president of Thompson Boxing Promotions. “We’ve seen him up close for the last several years and we’re confident in his abilities. He’s paid his dues and made his sacrifices.”

Yamanaka (26-0-2, 18 KOs) survived a knockdown at the hands of Anselmo Moreno in their Sept. 16 rematch to eventually stop him in round seven in a “Fight of the Year” candidate.

The 34-year-old from Tokyo will be making the 11th defense of his WBC title (and his first RING championship defense) against Carlson. Yamanaka holds recent wins over Liborio Solis, Alberto Guevera and Vic Darchinyan.

Francisco A. Salazar has written for RingTV since October of 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper, BoxingScene.com and Knockout Nation. He can be reached by email at [email protected] or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing.

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