Magramo May be Maneuvered Out of a WBO Title Bid in Japan
By Teodoro Medina Reynoso
PhilBoxing.com
Mon, 17 Aug 2020
If Johnriel Casimero could be maneuvered out of a contracted world title fight set in the USA by a Japanese, Naoya Inoue, what are the odds that another Filipino would not suffer the same fate in a bout set in Japan?
As things stand now, the oft rescheduled fight between Geimel Magramo (24-1, 20) and Japanese Junto Nakatani (20-0, 15), rated #1 and #3 respectively by the World Boxing Organization for the vacant WBO flyweight championship has been officially postponed indefinitely due to Magramo's inability to enter Japan for the fight.
Reports from Japan said the main reason is the issues caused by the ongoing Covid-19 global situation and the travel bans and restrictions that are in place due to the pandemic.
Originally, the WBO mandated fight to replace Kosei Tanaka who has moved up in weight had been announced to take place on April 4 in Tokyo before boxing was forced into global hiatus by the pandemic.
It was then slated for July when Japan started to resume boxing before it was moved to August 21.
But getting to Japan remains very difficult with the country essentially closing its borders to visitors from a number of countries including the Philippines. That meant Magramo would not be able to actually get to Japan for the bout.
The official announcement is that the postponement is the recourse "until the immigration restrictions of the Japanese and Philippine governments have been relaxed and it becomes possible to enter and exit."
But Asiaboxing.com reported that while it appears that this bout is one both parties will be focusing on re-organizing, there has been talk from Uzbekistan that if things cannot be sorted swiftly, Nakatani may end up first fighting WBO # 8 ranked Olimjon Nazarov (25-5, 14) for the title with Magramo fighting the winner.
The news of Nazarov potentially getting the fight with Nakatani had been broken by Jalol Akhmedov, a freelance writer for Uzbek sports sites, with September being targeted as schedule.
While Nazarov will be subject to the same travel restrictions that prevent Magramo from coming to Japan, there are countries that could be given exemption by Japan from the travel ban. Nazarov is currently based in Vietnam which has been successful in containing and limiting the virus infection thereby leaving a room for his fight with Nakatani to potentially happen in September if certain conditions can be met.
Japan has successfully resumed boxing since last month with series of fights involving exclusively local fighters, some battling for national and regional titles as sanctioned by the Japan Boxing Commission and the major international boxing bodies.
Organizers are aiming to put up major fights with live audience in attendance anticipating the holding of world title bouts especially involving all Japanese clashes as the projected meeting between Kosei Tanaka and Kazuto Ioka for the WBO super flyweight crown currently held by Ioka.
If the Nazarov fight falls through and Magramo continues to fail in getting clearance to enter Japan, Nakatani's handlers may be tempted to get a fellow rated Japanese to fight him for the vacant WBO title.
There are four other world rated Japanese in the flyweight division but they are outside the WBO rankings namely: WBA # 3 Ryota Yamauchi, WBA # 7 Tetsuda Hisada, IBF # 7 Masayuki Kuroda and former WBC champion and IBF # 8 Akira Yaegashi.
There is a move however to pit Yamauchi (6-1, 5) against another Japanese flyweight, Saturo Todaka for the vacant WBO Asia Pacific title this August 18 and most likely Yamauchi if he wins will be lined to fight Nakatani later in the year should the travel restriction policy persists.
Yamauchi's lone loss was on points to Chinese contender Wulan Toulehazi in China last year but he is coming off strings of impressive wins, including decision over Filipino Alphoe Dagayloan and KO over Chinese MJ Bo.
Magramo's handlers at Elorde should therefore be prepared for this possibility.
The author Teodoro Medina Reynoso is a veteran boxing radio talk show host living in the Philippines. He can be reached at teddyreynoso@yahoo.com and by phone 09215309477.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Teodoro Medina Reynoso.
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