Argentine boxing suffered a severe blow: the World Boxing Association (WBA) withdrew the interim featherweight title from Mirco Cuello, leaving the country without world champions in the men's category.
The decision was made after the undefeated Santafesino was unable to fulfill the mandatory defense of his belt against Japan's Tomoki Kameda.
The fight, which was due to take place in Kyrgyzstan, was suspended due to an injury to the challenger and failed to be rescheduled within the established deadlines, leading the agency to apply the regulations, leaving the title vacant.
The 25-year-old from Santa Fe had won the title in August last year by knocking out the Spaniard Sergio Ríos Jiménez in the second round in Libya. Since then, he has not returned to the ring to defend the crown.
Cuello lost the title for not defending it in time However, the news came accompanied by an important opportunity, as the WBA designated him the first absolute world belt challenger in the category, currently held by the American Brandon Figueroa.
Although there is still no confirmed date, the fight could mean a new presentation of the Argentine in the United States, where he left good impressions before
.
The native of Arroyo Seco comes to this new chance with an undefeated record of 16 victories, 13 of them by knockout, numbers that position him as one of the main exponents of current Argentine boxing.
Despite this severe setback, Argentine boxing maintains world titles in the women's category.
Evelin Bermúdez dominates the lightweight category with WBA, IBF and WBO titles,while Soledad Matthysse recently made history by becoming the interim superlightweight world champion at age 45.
