Hiroto Kyoguchi and Esteban Bermudez both stepped on an official commission scale for the first time in more than a year.
Neither fighter had any difficulty in making weight despite a long layoff for each, ahead of their WBA junior flyweight title consolidation bout. Both boxers weighed 107.8 pounds, under the 108-pound divisional limit for their scheduled twelve-round contest which airs live on DAZN from Domo Alcalde in Guadalajara, Mexico (Friday, 8:00 p.m, ET).
Japan’s Kyoguchj defends his WBA ‘Super’ title for the fourth time, while Bermudez aims to upgrade the WBA ‘World’ junior flyweight title he acquired 54 weeks ago in Mexico City.
The fight has been nearly a year in the making, with injuries and several delays causing both boxers to miss more than a year of ring action.
Tokyo’s Kyoguchi (15-0, 10KOs) has not fought since a fifth-round stoppage of Axel Aragon Vega in their title fight last March 13 at American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. The fight marked his U.S. debut, also doubling as his first fight with Matchroom Boxing and Eddy Reynoso’s No Boxing, No Life management team.
Injuries both before and his latest bout have left Kyoguchi with just three overall title defenses since winning his second divisional title in December 2018. Kyoguchi previously held the IBF strawweight title before moving up in weight.
Bermudez (14-3-2, 10KOs) enters off a career-best win, a stunning sixth-round knockout of unbeaten but inactive Carlos Canizales to win a secondary WBA junior flyweight title last May 29. The 26-year-old from Nezahualcoyotl (Neza), Mexico was previously attached to a title defense versus Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez (15-0, 10KOs) last October, only for the WBA to reject the fight given that the sanctioning body already ordered the title consolidation bout.
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox