Jonathan Gonzalez withdraws from Kenshiro Teraji unification with pneumonia

Japanese boxing had it too good for too long, apparently. Fresh on the heels of Naoya Inoue vs Stephen Fulton getting pushed back to summer, Kenshiro Teraji’s April 8th three-belt light flyweight unification against Jonathan Gonzalez is off after “Bomba” developed pneumonia.

Kiko Martinez vs Reiya Abe and Takuma Inoue vs Liborio Solis remain on track for that evening.

The hunt is on for a replacement foe. Teraji’s (20-1, 12 KO) team is reportedly negotiating with WBA no. 13 contender Gerardo Zapata and WBO no. 2 flyweight Anthony Olascuaga, the latter of whom is already in Japan.

Teraji was looking to build off a phenomenal 2022 that saw him brutally avenge his upset loss to Masamichi Yabuki and subsequently batter Hiroto Kyoguchi to add the WBA title to his collection. As Jake Donovan points out elsewhere, rescheduling could be tricky, as Hekkie Budler already stepped aside to let the Gonzalez (27-3-1, 14 KO) fight proceed and WBA interim champ Daniel Matellon is likewise waiting in the wings.

Wishing Gonzalez a speedy recovery and this situation a tidy resolution.