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One of the sport’s most entertaining young champions won’t be taking a break after a busy 2017. 22-year-old Daigo Higa is set to return to action in February, albeit in a nonideal matchup. Rather than WBC #1 Muhammad Waseem, whom Higa was expected to fight, the flyweight standout will instead take on Moises Fuentes.
Fuentes (25-4-1, 14 KO) saw a get-well fight go pear-shaped this past July when 17-15-2 Ulises Lara defeated him by majority decision. He went on to stop Lara in 2:40 in the rematch, but remains 1-2 in his last three.
He challenged Kosei Tanaka for the WBO light flyweight belt last December and lost four rounds before being stopped in the fifth.
Higa (14-0, 14 KO) proved his power would work on the elite this past May by beating down Juan Carlos Navarrete, then wiped out Thomas Masson five rounds later. If he keeps up this kind of form, Fuentes is in for a world of hurt.