By Rick Reeno
I'm not exactly sure what the story is in Japan. Last week there were multiple reports in the Japanese press that Hozumi Hasegawa would fight Fernando Montiel in a bantamweight unification fight on April 30 in Japan. On Monday there was an actual press conference in Japan where Teiken Promotions announced the fight was close to a deal.
On Monday night, BoxingScene.com spoke with multiple indivudals involved with Top Rank and Zanfer, who co-promote Montiel. Every one of them denied the press clippings in Japan. Montiel, bound by an agreement with the WBO, must fight interim-champion Eric Morel next.
The original plan was to place Montiel-Morel in the co-feature slot to the May 8 Latin Fury pay-per-view being headlined by Antonio Margarito. Recent talk has the fight landing on the Miguel Cotto-Yuri Foreman undercard at Yankee Stadium in New York.
