Willibaldo Garcia and Rene Calixto were both heavier than they were for their first meeting but still under the junior bantamweight limit.
The pair of Mexican contenders each weighed 114.8lbs during Thursday’s official weigh-in for their IBF title fight rematch. ESPN Knockout will air their scheduled 12-round contest this Friday beginning at 9:00 p.m. ET from Gimnasio Marcelino Gonzalez in Zacatecas, Mexico.
Both boxers will have to weigh in again on the morning of the fight, per the IBF’s rehydration policy. Neither combatant can weigh more than 125 pounds during the same-day weight session.
Garcia, 22-5-2 (13 KOs), was more than a full pound heavier than his weight for their first fight, when he clocked in at 113.75lbs. Calixto (23-0-1, 9 KOs) was 114.3lbs ahead of their thrilling clash last December 21 in Shizuoka, Japan.
Their action-packed affair provided everything you’d want in a title fight – except for a winner. The judges were split in their final verdict as Garcia and Calixto fought to a draw.
The IBF junior bantamweight title remained vacant and an immediate rematch was ordered by the sanctioning body. MP Promotions, representing Copala’s Garcia along with lead event promoter BXSTRS, won the right to the bout through a February 11 purse bid hearing. With that came the logical decision to bring the rematch to Mexico.
Acapulco’s Calixto, 30, is represented by Tomoki Kameda’s TMK International, which led to their first encounter taking place in Japan.
Garcia is unbeaten in his last nine starts.
Prior to his split draw with Calixto, the streaking 35-year-old southpaw won eight consecutive bouts. The run followed a June 2021 split decision defeat to two-division titlist Paul Butler in Bolton, England.
Calixto was perfect through 23 pro fights before having to settle for a split draw with his countryman.
Their title fight last December marked the first time either boxer had fought beyond the tenth round.
The IBF junior bantamweight title has remained vacant since last fall.
Argentina’s Fernando Martinez, 17-0 (9 KOs), retained the IBF belt and won the WBA strap in a July 7 unanimous decision win over Kazuto Ioka, 31-3-1 (16 KOs), at Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo, Japan. The title unifying win came with the caveat that Martinez would have to next face Garcia as his IBF mandatory challenger.
The opportunity for a far more lucrative rematch with Ioka prompted Martinez to leave behind the IBF belt. He was due to defend the WBA belt versus Ioka last December 31 but fell ill during fight week and was forced to withdraw.
Martinez and Ioka are now set to meet on May 11 at Ota-City General Gymnasium in Tokyo.
WBC and lineal champion Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez, 21-0 (14 KOs), and WBO claimant Phumelela Cafu, 11-0-3 (8 KOs), are the division’s other two titlists. As previously reported by BoxingScene, they are set to meet on July 19 in Frisco, Texas.
Garcia-Calixto II will mark the first boxing event in Zacatecas since last August, and the most notable fight to land in the nearly 600-year-old city in north-central Mexico.
