LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – Stripped of his WBA featherweight title after failing to make weight on Friday morning, now former champion Brandon Figueroa has withdrawn completely from his bout with former bantamweight champion Tomoki Kameda which was to serve as the TNT and DAZN broadcasted co-main event to Sebastian Fundora’s WBC 154-pound title defense against mandatory challenger Ermal Hadribeaj tonight from the Chelsea at the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas.
Figueroa (27-2-1, 20 KOs) of Weslaco, Texas did not show for yesterday afternoon’s ceremonial weigh-in after officially weighing-in at 126.8 pounds, just under one pound over the featherweight limit. Kameda (42-5, 23 KOs) of Osaka, Osaka, Japan did make the weight, coming-in at 125.8 pounds on Friday morning. Should the fight have went on as scheduled, Kameda would have been eligible to claim the vacant title. Now Kameda will have to return home without the opportunity to fight at all.
Premier Boxing Champions cited Figueroa falling ill overnight as the reason for the cancellation.
Originally scheduled to be final preliminary bout exclusively broadcast by DAZN, the eight-round middleweight pairing of Jaime Osuna Diaz (11-0, 5 KOs) of Guerrero Negro, Baja California Sur, Mexico and Cristian Cangelosi (13-0-1, 5 KOs) of Brooklyn, New York by way of Palermo, Sicilia, Italy will now become the new TNT broadcast opener. Five bouts compose the card overall, with a new start time of 4:15 PM local time. The TNT broadcast will begin at 5 PM local time.
Photo by Cris Esqueda/Premier Boxing Champions
Mario Ortega Jr. can be reached at ortegajr.mario@gmail.com
