Murata Vs Golovkin postponed, Ioka Vs Ancajas "off"
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Earlier this week we reported that a number of major bouts set for later this year in Japan were in doubt due to the rise of the Omicron variant of Covid19, and Japan's reaction to it, which included essentially closing the boards. At the time there was 3 world title bouts, including two massive unification bouts, all at threat of being cancelled or postponed due to the new restrictions.
Sadly today we saw announcements being made to confirm what none of us wanted to hear, and that the shows for December 28th and 31st were both off, at least for now.
The official lines from Japan regarding the show are a little bit different, even though neither will go ahead as planned.
The first major bout was the planned Middleweight unification bout between IBF Middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin (41-1-1, 36) [Геннадий Геннадьевич Головкин] and WBA "Super" Middleweight champion Ryota Murata (16-2, 13) [村田 諒太]. That bout, which was set to be shown on DAZN around the globe and Amazon Prime in Japan, has officially been postponed. Not cancelled, as some have reported, but postponed.
Teiken released a statement about the contest, and the show as a whole, on their website, explaining:
"We apologize for the inconvenience caused to customers who have already applied for the spectator ticket lottery and those who have been looking forward to the event. We apologize for any inconvenience this time. We will cancel it and will contact you as soon as the postponement schedule is decided. Thank you for your patience."
The plan for the bout is to re-arrange it for the Spring time, after the current restrictions are lifted. The current restrictions are to run until late December, would could mean a February or March date for the bout.
With the Middleweight being postponed, it also means that the WBO Flyweight title bout, between unbeaten champion Junto Nakatani (22-0, 17) [中谷 潤人] and Mexican challenger Cristian Gonzalez (14-1, 4), is also postponed, and Teiken are looking to again put on the show as a double header.
The othe rmajor bout is less clear in what is to happen to it.
That was the planned New Year's Eve Super Flyweight world title unification bout between WBO champion Kazuto Ioka (27-2, 15) [井岡一翔] and IBF champion Jerwin Ancajas (33-1-2, 22). This bout is currently in an unclear situation, with the only thing known is that it will not take place at the end of 2021 as planned.
Shisei Boxing Gym have announced that the bout is currently cancelled, and that the teams may sit down and re-arrange it for the new year, however it's less clear than the Murata Vs Golovkin bout, and reports in Japan are that no decision has been made as to whether to cancel it all together, postpone it, or postpone it and change the location of it, potentially taking it to the US for 2022. A decision regarding what will come of this bout will be made in the future.
For those curious, the December 14th card, headlined by Naoya Inoue (21-0, 18) [井上 尚弥] defending his Bantamweight world title against Thai challenger Aran Dipaen (12-2, 11) [แก่นนคร ศักดิ์กรีรินทร์] and also featuring WBO Minimumweight champion Wilfredo Mendez (16-1, 6) defending against Masataka Taniguchi (14-3, 9) [谷口将隆], will go ahead as planned.
Sadly there is one other bout that has fallen through due to the new restrictions, and that was a scheduled December 16th bout between Masanori Rikiishi (9-1, 5) [力石 政法] and Filipino Roldan Aldea (16-8-1, 9). Aldea has been unable to travel, and as a result the promoter of the event has issues what is essentially an open challenger to fighters in Japan. The promoter, Koki Kameda, has offered 1 million yen (around £7,000 or $9,000) to a fighter willing to take on Rikiishi at short notice, in an attempt to keep the show on.
Sadly today we saw announcements being made to confirm what none of us wanted to hear, and that the shows for December 28th and 31st were both off, at least for now.
The official lines from Japan regarding the show are a little bit different, even though neither will go ahead as planned.
The first major bout was the planned Middleweight unification bout between IBF Middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin (41-1-1, 36) [Геннадий Геннадьевич Головкин] and WBA "Super" Middleweight champion Ryota Murata (16-2, 13) [村田 諒太]. That bout, which was set to be shown on DAZN around the globe and Amazon Prime in Japan, has officially been postponed. Not cancelled, as some have reported, but postponed.
Teiken released a statement about the contest, and the show as a whole, on their website, explaining:
"We apologize for the inconvenience caused to customers who have already applied for the spectator ticket lottery and those who have been looking forward to the event. We apologize for any inconvenience this time. We will cancel it and will contact you as soon as the postponement schedule is decided. Thank you for your patience."
The plan for the bout is to re-arrange it for the Spring time, after the current restrictions are lifted. The current restrictions are to run until late December, would could mean a February or March date for the bout.
With the Middleweight being postponed, it also means that the WBO Flyweight title bout, between unbeaten champion Junto Nakatani (22-0, 17) [中谷 潤人] and Mexican challenger Cristian Gonzalez (14-1, 4), is also postponed, and Teiken are looking to again put on the show as a double header.
The othe rmajor bout is less clear in what is to happen to it.
That was the planned New Year's Eve Super Flyweight world title unification bout between WBO champion Kazuto Ioka (27-2, 15) [井岡一翔] and IBF champion Jerwin Ancajas (33-1-2, 22). This bout is currently in an unclear situation, with the only thing known is that it will not take place at the end of 2021 as planned.
Shisei Boxing Gym have announced that the bout is currently cancelled, and that the teams may sit down and re-arrange it for the new year, however it's less clear than the Murata Vs Golovkin bout, and reports in Japan are that no decision has been made as to whether to cancel it all together, postpone it, or postpone it and change the location of it, potentially taking it to the US for 2022. A decision regarding what will come of this bout will be made in the future.
For those curious, the December 14th card, headlined by Naoya Inoue (21-0, 18) [井上 尚弥] defending his Bantamweight world title against Thai challenger Aran Dipaen (12-2, 11) [แก่นนคร ศักดิ์กรีรินทร์] and also featuring WBO Minimumweight champion Wilfredo Mendez (16-1, 6) defending against Masataka Taniguchi (14-3, 9) [谷口将隆], will go ahead as planned.
Sadly there is one other bout that has fallen through due to the new restrictions, and that was a scheduled December 16th bout between Masanori Rikiishi (9-1, 5) [力石 政法] and Filipino Roldan Aldea (16-8-1, 9). Aldea has been unable to travel, and as a result the promoter of the event has issues what is essentially an open challenger to fighters in Japan. The promoter, Koki Kameda, has offered 1 million yen (around £7,000 or $9,000) to a fighter willing to take on Rikiishi at short notice, in an attempt to keep the show on.