There’s a bizarre saga that’s flown under the radar these past few months: the WBA’s attempts to pit “super” light flyweight champion Hiroto Kyoguchi against “world” champ Esteban Bermudez. They first ordered it back in June, but Matchroom tried to pull a fast one and have Bermudez defend his belt against Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez, prompting the WBA to swat them with a rolled-up newspaper and drag them back to the negotiating table.
The following month, Matchroom claimed they’d finalized a deal, which avoided a looming purse bid. They then went radio silent for several months, leading the WBA to give them a series of deadlines that Matchroom ignored. This led the WBA to once again order a purse bid, but now Kyoguchi is out with an injury.
Bermudez (14-3-2, 10 KO) will instead rematch the man he shocked to claim the belt, Carlos Canizales (23-1-1, 17 KO). The winner (or Bermudez, if it’s a draw) must then face Kyoguchi.
Venezuela’s Canizales built up a nice head of steam with dominant victories over Lu Bin and Sho Kimura, but spent two years on the sidelines thanks to the pandemic scratching a December 2020 date. Six months later, the unheralded Bermudez capitalized on “CCC’s” inactivity by stopping him in six.
I suppose this weirdness is par for the light flyweight course of late. Let’s see if this one gets over the finish line.