Takashi Uchiyama - back in action...but not until New Year's.

Uchiyama will make the ninth defense of his WBA super featherweight title on December 31st on Teleto, with the challenger and venue yet to be determined.

This continues a now four-year-running tradition of Uchiyama boxing (and making WBA 130lb title defenses, at that) on New Year's Eve in Japan. Unfortunately, it breaks with the extant tradition from 2011 until 2013 of having already fought once in the year with the New Year's Eve card making for his 2nd annual match. This is his sole outing, just barely in the nick of time not to get stripped and dropped from rankings.

Even worse, the pool from which he can select his only rival of 2014 is pretty shallow at the moment. A unification rematch with Miura is out, because Miura is committed to defending his WBC belt on North American soil in November (opponent and venue also TBD). IBF champ Rances Barthelemy is making a soft first defense on the Soliman vs. Taylor undercard in October. Terdsak Jandaeng and Orlando Salido will square off for the vacant WBO title in October. Uchiyama's subordinate counterpart in WBA interim champ Bryan Vasquez - who skirted a unification with Uchiyama this past summer - is rumored to be in negotiations with Diego Magdaleno for the Pacquiao vs. Algieri undercard. So none of the other champs will be available.

The schedule does work out such that some top rated contenders might be available for December if they're willing to come to Japan. WBA #2 Javier Fortuna (Vasquez occupies the #1 spot despite his "interim champ" status) last fought in May. The next man down the line, #3 Romain Jacob, is rematching #5 Devis Boschiero in October - but #4 Jose Pedraza notched a victory just last Friday and is keeping active with appearances every few months. #7 Cotton McGuinness has been out for a year and struggling with management issues. #8 Ryan Kielczewski fought in March and June so December would be a logical next date if not for the fact that is woefully inadequate to mix at such high company having fought nobody of worth to gain his ranking or from whom to learn anything to prepare him for someone like Uchiyama; that would be a slaughter. Honestly the most intriguing option and most serious thread from the WBA top fifteen is Francisco Vargas, coming off his retirement of Juan Manuel Lopez on the Alvarez vs. Lara undercard, but he is way down at #13 and both camps may see each other as too high-risk with Golden Boy looking to develop Vargas into a moneymaker and Uchiyama perhaps wanting a lighter touch his first time in the ring in twelve months.

 

atsch Just realized I completely forgot to mention Garcia - the elephant in the room. Garcia vs. Uchiyama is perhaps the best match that can be made at super feather right now - but HBO has already balked at showing it even in the US or Mexico, and so almost certainly won't care to air it from Japan in the wee hours.

Embroiled as he is with Top Rank in a conflict over control of his career, he is essentially inactive until further notice and not in the discussion anyway. Still, he should've been mentioned with the other unavailable champs - and foremost among them, even!

 

It'll probably just end up being a Kaneko rematch, that would be the easiest to make. :!: Hooray.

 

I know! He'll be 35 before he next sees action, which is getting around the max threshold before people in his weight range customarily start their steep decline.

How tragic if we end up only getting Kaneko II and he sits out nearly all of 2015 as well, and rings in the auld lange syne for '16 with an easy farewell match to go out with his zero after relinquishing his title! I can see that happening...

 

****...the only top 50 super featherweight older than Uchiyama is Mzonke Fana.

Remember him? Mzonke Fana, pro over two full decades, now a forty-something.


...who, incidentally, somehow is currently WBA #9. :blood So he is a candidate for the New Year's date...more so than Vargas, astonishingly.

 

Stay focused, lads. Uchiyama thread.

 

Yep, there was scuttlebutt for June or July.

For a while it looked as if Uchiyama were going to be facing either Garcia or Vasquez this summer - which in either case would've been a-OK (good in the case of Vasquez, great in the case of Garcia) ...yet we ended up empty-handed. :verysad

 

Joe your next post in here better damn well be about Uchiyama.