Comments Thread For: Rather than retiring, Daigo Higa lobbies for Yoshiki Takei title rematch

[BoxingUpdates]

Daigo Higa had considered hanging up his gloves after his close September loss to WBO bantamweight titleholder Yoshiki Takei. But Higa has decided to keep fighting - and wants a rematch with Takei.
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[famicommander]

Higa vs fighters that won a major (not interim or regular) world title at some point in their careers:
W vs Juan Hernandez TKO 6 - 2017 (won WBC flyweight title; Hernandez missed weight so it was a vacant belt, but he had been champion)
W vs Moises Fuentes TKO 1 - 2018 (retained WBC flyweight title)
L vs Cristofer Rosales TKO 9 - 2018 (missed weight, lost WBC flyweight title)
D vs Seiya Tsutsumi MD 10 - 2020 (Tsutsumi was 5-0-1 coming in)
L vs Ryosuke Nishida UD 12 - 2021 (Nishida was 3-0-0 coming in)
L vs Yoshiki Takei UD 12 - 2024 (Takei was 9-0-0 coming in)

It's been six years since he had a big win and he seems to struggle with talented guys even when they're very inexperienced at the pro level. I don't think another title reign is in the cards for Higa. Takei will beat him by a wider margin if they fight again.

[trippleupper]

As a power punching kick boxer who came late to boxing, the blessing and the curse of Takei is that in being moved so quickly to the world title he got by mostly on his power, without fully developing his skills. Though getting better, he is still learning on the job in a way that is always precarious. After losing every round in the first half of their fight, Moloney was, in the last round, inches away from stopping him. Higa too had Takei hurt, and was in position for a win on points. Credit to Takei for coming on strong at the end of that fight. I get the appeal from Higa for a rematch, but it's hard to take seriously when he didn't throw punches in the last round. Why? I would guess it comes down to training. Any doubts? Look at his body language after the final bell.