By Joe Koizumi
The hard-working liaison conference of the Japan Boxing Commission (JBC) and the JPBA (Japan Professional Boxing Association, the union of 282 club owners including newly licensed) has decided today (Wednesday) that all shows scheduled through June will be completely canceled due to the still growing coronavirus outbreak here. The conference previously called off all cards through May, but again extended the cancellation for another month through June.
The Japanese government, on April 7, declared a state of emergency until May 6 and recommended the closure of sports training facilities, including boxing gyms. A couple of professional boxers in Aichi Prefecture, however, were found virus-infected yesterday, and the JPBA today asked all the gyms nationwide to take more care of the prevention against the outbreak. The cumulative number of coronavirus infection exceeded 10,000 here in Japan on Saturday, having doubled in just nine days from April 9. The deaths therefrom now topped 280 today.
Japan annually makes it a rule to stage the Carnival of Champions with our national titleholders to compete with the mandatory challengers, but the following schedule thus has been all canceled and postponed until later dates though not yet confirmed:
105lb:
Masataka Taniguchi vs. Lito Dante for the vacant national championship on March 17
108lb:
Yuto Takahashi vs. Masamichi Yabuki for the vacant championship on March 15
(Takahashi lately renounced his national belt to hang up gloves, and Yabuki was once slated to meet unbeaten prospect Tsuyoshi Sato in May, but it will be re-scheduled in July or later)
112lb:
Yuri Akui vs. Seiya Fujikita on March 8
115lb:
Kenta Nakagawa vs. Yuta Matsuo on May 16
118lb:
Yusuke Suzuki vs. Kyosuke Sawada on April 9
122lb:
Yusaku Kuga vs. Gakuya Furuhashi on April 28
126lb:
Ryo Sagawa vs. Hinata Maruta on April 9
130lb:
Kosuke Saka vs. Takuya Watanabe in April
140lb:
Koki Inoue vs. Daishi Nagata on March 16
154lb:
Hironobu Matsunaga vs. Yuto Shimizu on March 7
160lb:
Kazuto Takesako vs. Riku Kunimoto on May 2
Remarks:
The lightweight and the welterweight mandatory title bouts already finished with the champions victorious.
The future fight schedule from July on will be dependent on the decision of the JBC/JPBA conference based on the continuance (or not) of the state of emergency by our government after May 6.