Willibaldo Garcia Perez falls ill after the weigh-in – Super flyweight world championship at “Night of the Samurai” canceled at short notice, Teraji may still be in action.
A bitter setback for boxing fans in Saudi Arabia: the eagerly awaited IBF super flyweight world championship fight between title holder Willibaldo Garcia Perez and Japanese two-weight world champion Kenshiro Teraji has been canceled at short notice. The Ring ‘s “Night of the Samurai” event in Riyadh thus lost one of its sporting highlights. The reason for the cancellation is a sudden illness of Garcia Perez (23-6-2, 13 knockouts), who developed health problems after the official weigh-in and was declared unfit to fight.
Garcia’s manager Sean Gibbons told The Ring Magazine: “Everything went perfectly. Willibaldo had made weight this morning without any problems, did the ceremony on the second day – everything was fine. Then he got stomach problems. We had him checked out, but he just wasn’t feeling well enough. That was it.” For Kenshiro Teraji (25-2, 16 knockouts), one of the most precise technicians and most dangerous punchers in the 115-pound weight class, the withdrawal is particularly bitter. The Japanese fighter came to the event fully prepared to secure another world championship belt.
The event itself will nevertheless take place. Naoya Inoue defends his undisputed world super bantamweight title against David Picasso, while Junto Nakatani makes his super bantamweight debut against Sebastian Hernandez Reyes in the co-main event. Promoter Turki Al-Sheik also raised hopes that Teraji could still step into the ring. He wrote on his verified social media channels that a short-term solution was being examined, as the Japanese champion did not want to return home without a fight. It remains to be seen whether there will be a replacement fight. What is clear, however, is that the cancellation of the IBF title fight leaves a noticeable gap in an otherwise high-caliber boxing night in Riyadh.