Despite the fact that this was a voluntary defense and the circumstances were totally outside of his control, Mauricio Sulaiman and co. stripped him of the belt and never gave him a shot at either Freshmart, who won the now-vacant title against a late-notice foe. or Shokichi Iwata, who smashed Freshmart in his first defense.
This is genuinely one of the better fights on the schedule. Kira looks like a star in the making, but the last time an Asian amateur great tried to fast-track his way to a title at Canizales’ expense, Canizales effectively ended Lu Bin’s career for half a decade. Really hoping there’s an easy way for us to watch.