By Miguel Rivera
World Boxing Organization (WBO) junior flyweight champion Angel "Tito" Acosta will return to the ring on March 16 against an opponent yet to be determined, after Japan's Ryuji Hara withdrew from their planned bout due to an injury.
Hara was the WBO's mandatory opponent to face the Puerto Rican for the 108-pound belt.
As explained by Bryan Perez, director of operations of the Miguel Cotto Promotions, who manage Acosta's career, Hara retired from boxing after suffering an injury to the right shoulder from which he could not recover. That injury prevented the Japanese boxer from fighting Acosta in April of last year, which caused the fight to be delayed until August.
However, the Japanese fighter was also not ready to face the Puerto Rican in the month of August, so it was agreed upon that they would fight at the beginning of this year, which will not happen as a result of his retirement.
"Ryuji Hara's team opted for retirement, since he was not going to be 100%. Now we are working to finalize a new opponent for Tito within the 10 ranked opponents of the WBO," explained Perez, who could not say where the March fight will take place, to scribe Sara Hernandez.
Perez also added that this situation has not affected the spirit of the natural fighter of Barrio Obrero, who carried out two voluntary defenses in June and October of last year.
Acosta (19-1, 19 KO) won his world title on December 2, 2017, after defeating Mexican Juan Alejo by knockout.
Acosta has now won three fights in a row since losing a twelve round unanimous decision to Kosei Tanaka in May of 2017. Tanaka is regarded as one of the best fighters, pound for pound, in the lower weight divisions. Tanaka has since moved up and captured a world title at the flyweight limit.
