The April 11 show in Tokyo will remain intact, minus one title fight.
It’s bad news for those who waited for an update on the attempt to move forward with the rescheduled Seiya Tsutsumi-Antonio Vargas WBA 118lbs title fight. BoxingScene has confirmed that Tsutsumi never fully recovered from the severe damage suffered in his disputed points victory over former four-division champion Nonito Donaire last December 17 in Tokyo.
Tsutsumi, 13-0-1 (8 KOs), suffered a facial fracture in the fight – just ten months after enduring severe physical damage in his 12-round draw with Daigo Higa last February.
On both occasions, waiting on the other side was a mandatory title defense versus Antonio Vargas. It appears the two are once again poised to switch positions in the WBA rankings.
Had the fight moved forward this time, it would have landed on the already announced April 11 show topped by the Tenshin Nasukawa-Juan Francisco Estrada WBC 118lbs title eliminator in Tokyo.
Unfortunately, for Tsutsumi, that show represented the end of the 120-day period during which he was required to next face Orlando’s Vargas per a prior ruling when he barely outlasted Donaire.
Tsutsumi was forced to give up the WBA 118lbs title last summer and claim “Champion in Recess” status, when he was unable to honor an ordered title consolidation clash with Vargas, who held the interim belt at the time. Vargas – a 2016 U.S. Olympian – was upgraded to full titleholder, which left the door open for Donaire to nab the interim belt last June.
Vargas was then ordered to face a healed Tsutsumi last fall. However, a personal family tragedy left Vargas unable to resume his career at the time. He was assigned the “Champion in Recess” status previously given to Tsutsumi, whose reign was restored in time to change his already scheduled clash with Donaire from an interim title fight to a title consolidation clash.
The musical chairs continue, and Donaire can once again benefit from the latest fallout.
The legendary can’t miss future Hall of Famer is due to face Riku Masuda this Sunday in Yokohama. He accepted the fight after a previous bid to obtain a No. 1 contender ranking at bantamweight with any of the four major sanctioning bodies. All of the groups responded with appropriate feedback (and mostly praise), especially on the strength of the damage he caused in defeat versus Tsutsumi, who required surgery to repair a busted nose.
Fittingly, WBA officials were the only ones to properly accommodate Donaire as he is the group’s top-rated bantamweight contender. A win on Sunday will likely see him named as the mandatory challenger.
Even more so in his favor is that the WBA mandatory is now long overdue, which means Vargas’ first fight since last July – his own draw with Higa – will not only come versus the winner of this weekend, but is expected to be ordered immediately.
An estimated timeframe for Tsutsumi’s full recovery was not known as this goes to publication.
