WITH Junto Nakatani’s titles now relinquished, the bantamweight division must once again move on from another period of dominance. Now, the IBF have ordered a clash to determine a new world champion at 118lbs.
After Naoya Inoue moved up, Nakatani took the bantamweight reigns and became a unified WBC and IBF world champion, but the imminent clash between the Japanese duo has seen ‘Big Bang’ follow Inoue to 122lbs and vacate his belts.
As a result, fan-favourite Tenshin Nasukawa and Takuma Inoue, brother of Naoya, have agreed to a showdown for the vacant WBC bantamweight title, which is set to take place in late November.
Meanwhile, the vacant IBF title has been more of a mystery, with a host of names in the division being linked to a contest to crown a new titleholder.
However, Jake Donovan has now obtained a letter from the IBF, where a clash between undefeated Mexican, Jose Salas Reyes, 16-0 (10 KOs), and South Africa’s Landile Ngxeke, 16-1-1 (8 KOs), has been ordered, as per Boxing Scene.
“Please be advised that the IBF Bantamweight title is vacant,”
“Jose Salas Reyes, rated #3, and #5 rated Landile Ngxeke are the two highest ranked available contenders in the IBF Bantamweight division.
“The IBF is ordering a championship bout between these two contenders to determine the new IBF Bantamweight Champion.”
Salas, who is signed to Manny Pacquiao’s promotional outfit, has fought the vast majority of his professional career in Mexico, but appeared on the Spence-Crawford undercard and scored a fourth-round knockout win over Aston Palicte in what remains his most high-profile outing to date.
Although, ‘El Chapulin’ has appeared at bantamweight just once since 2022, with four of his last five fights coming at super-bantamweight.
Meanwhile, Ngxeke has fought solely on home soil, debuting professionally with a draw against future world champion Phumelela Cafu and claiming the South African titles at both super-flyweight and bantamweight.
Last time out, ‘Mandown’ overcame Mexican southpaw in Eric Gamboa to rise from #7 to #5 in the IBF ratings and that victory has proved crucial to his apparent world title shot, where he will hope for a similarly impressive showing over another Latino lefty.
