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The intriguing showdown between WBA "Super" super featherweight champion Takashi Uchiyama and regular champion Javier Fortuna has apparently hit a stumbling block. As a result, Uchiyama will face interim champion Jezreel Corrales on April 27th in the, well, interim.
Corrales (19-1, 7 KO) is unbeaten since his second pro fight with one no-contest due to the dreadful performance-enhancing substance known as marijuana. The Panamanian won the interim belt last December with an eleventh-round finish of Mexico's Juan Antonio Rodriguez, his fifth consecutive stoppage victory.
He also apparently fought a 2-7-2 guy at 144 pounds one year before that. I both do and don't want to know the context behind that.
Japanese titleholders Kohei Kono (super flyweight) and Ryoichi Taguchi (light flyweight) will defend their belts on the undercard, though neither has an opponent at the time of this writing. Former K-1 competitor Kyotaro Fujimoto will be in action as well.
It's a shame that Uchiyama and Fortuna couldn't iron things out, but I respect the WBA for continuing to make good on their pledge to reduce the number of belts in play. Plus, I suppose another scalp for "KO Dynamite" will help the hype.