Sep. 12, 2015
Sep. 12, 2015
TOKYO, JAPAN
September 12, 2015
TOKYO, JAPAN
WBC super-featherweight champ, Japanese southpaw Takashi “Bomber” Miura (29-2-2, 22 KOs) will defend his belt against official challenger, unbeaten Mexican Francisco Vargas (22-0-1, 16 KOs) in Las Vegas on November 21. It was announced by Teiken Promotions yesterday. The mandatory title bout will take place beneath the sensational encounter of Miguel Cotto and Saul “Canelo” Alvarez with the WBC middleweight throne on the line at the Mandalay Bay Hotel & Casino.
Miura, a hard-punching lefty called “Mexican Killer”, is making his fifth defense since he dethroned Gamaliel Diaz by a ferocious stoppage in the ninth in April 2013. Since then, the Japanese bomber defeated Sergio Thompson (W12) in Mexico, Dante Jardon (TKO9), Edgar Puerta (TKO6) and ex-champ Billy Dib (TKO3) to his credit. In the same 130-pound category, we have another excellent titleholder Takashi Uchiyama, WBA ruler, who once scored an unforgettable halt over Miura after the eighth canto to keep his belt in January 2011, but it was Miura that surprisingly registered a sole knockdown during the hard-fought contest. It cannot be simply judged that Uchiyama is superior to Miura at this moment since the WBC titlist has recently technically and physically improved to be highly evaluated by our experts.
Vargas, a year his junior at 30, acquired the vacant NABF 130-pound belt by beating previously undefeated Brian Bennett on points in Indio, Calif. in August 2013, and kept it three times by defeating Jerry Belmontes (W10), former champ Juan Manuel Lopez (TKO3) and Australian prospect Will Tomlinson (TKO8) to show his real power. Vargas, nicknamed “El Bandido (bandit)”, will try to deprive Miura of his prestigious belt, while Miura will try to prove his stock more international in the Fight Town, where great many people will gather to see the Cotto-Canelo combat and also watch this battle of the hard-punchers. Miura’s power-punching will be appreciated by millions of people watching in the world, hopefully.
(9-12-2015)