Carlos Canizales has long ago come to grips that his title reign will require a lot of travel.
That dynamic was never more apparent than during the two years he has been forced to sit out of the ring, largely due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The undefeated secondary WBA junior flyweight titlist from Caracas, Venezuela returns to the ring for the first time since 2019 as he defends his belt versus Mexico’s Esteban Bermudez (13-3-2, 9KOs). The bout takes place this Friday, live on Estrella TV from Mexico City, once again placing the defending title claimant on the road.
“It’s hard, but I knew that I had to keep taking these fights in my opponent’s home country since there just isn’t any real boxing in Venezuela,” Canizales told BoxingScene.com. “I knew the first time I fought for the world title, I was going to have to constantly be on the go. It doesn’t bother me to fight in front of my opponent’s fans, it’s just something I expected would be the case when I became champion.”
Canizales (22-0-1, 17KOs) first won the title in a 12-round unanimous decision over then-undefeated Reiya Konishi in March 2018. The bout took place in Kobe, Japan, with the Venezuelan traveling abroad for successful title defenses. The two were considered relatively neutral locations, scoring a 12th round knockout of China’s Bin Lu in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and then outpointing Japan’s former flyweight titlist Sho Kimura in their May 2019 clash in Fuzhou, China.
Prior to winning the belt, Canizales has only fought once before outside of his native Venezuela. It came in his first career title fight, holding the excellent Ryoichi Taguchi to a 12-round draw in their 2016 New Year’s Eve clash in Tokyo.
With that, it came as no surprise that his first fight after a two-year hiatus would once again come on the road. Bermudez has never left Mexico in his pro career while fighting for any title for the first time in his career. Still, local appeal will be his only advantage, especially with social distancing measures limiting the venue to roughly 33% capacity according to event promoter Ricardo Maldonado.
It won’t even be an edge as far as Canizales is concerned.
“I love fighting on the road, it motivates me more to rise to victory,” insists Canizales, who has signed with promoter Greg Cohen prior to announcing his comeback plans. “I know my competition has strong fan bases back home and promoters who can keep them active on their shows. It comes (with the territory) for me but I’m used to it.”
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox