On May 17 (May 18 Japan time), the WBA officially announced that as of May 6 (May 7 Japan time), it had received formal notification from Teiken Promotions president Akihiko Honda stating that Seiya Tsutsumi was medically unfit to compete. As a result, Tsutsumi (12 wins, 8 KOs, 0 losses, 3 draws), the WBA bantamweight world champion from Kadoebi Boxing Gym, has been designated as Champion in Recess.
Consequently, the interim champion, Antonio Vargas (USA), who holds a record of 19 wins (11 KOs), 1 loss, and 1 no contest, has been elevated to the status of WBA Regular Champion as Tsutsumi’s successor.
Tsutsumi had been experiencing issues with his left eye for about two years, and it was later discovered that he had a corneal injury. Although he had been considering surgery since last year, the procedure was postponed once a world title fight was scheduled. However, after successfully defending his title with a draw against Daigo Higa (Shisei Gym, 21 wins [19 KOs], 3 losses, 2 draws) on February 24, he underwent surgery.
Vargas, who had been ordered to face Tsutsumi, is now expected to defend his title against former WBC flyweight world champion Daigo Higa, currently ranked No. 3, since No. 2 Tenshin Nasukawa (Teiken, 6 wins, 2 KOs) already has a fight scheduled for June 8. The bout with Higa is likely to be part of a multi-world-title event planned for late July.
Tsutsumi is reportedly recovering at an astonishing speed after surgery and is expected to face the regular champion in his comeback fight. However, given recent trends within the WBA, it’s unlikely that the interim title will be left vacant for long. If a request comes from a major promoter, it would not be surprising if the WBA approves an interim title fight.
Fortunately, the top spots in the rankings are currently held by Japanese fighters, but the sudden placement of former five-division (including interim) world champion Nonito Donaire (Philippines) — who has lost two consecutive fights and hasn’t competed in nearly two years — at No. 5 suggests there may be strategic intentions behind it. It will be interesting to see how Donaire’s ambition — “I want to beat NakatanI and fight Inoue again” — plays out, possibly through an interim title bout or other opportunity.
All eyes are on the future of the bantamweight titles vacated by Naoya Inoue!
This article has been translated and published with permission from BOXING MASTER.
https://boxing-master.com/prof/embed/#?secret=x2hdidccEV#?secret=JaONuGYWG5
This article has been translated and published with permission from the original author.
The original content belongs to [Name of author/blog].
コメントを残す