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WBA light flyweight boxing champion Hiroto Kyoguchi of Japan (C) raises his arms after his victory over challenger Tanawat Nakoon of Thailand during their title fight at the Makuhari Messe in Chiba on 19 June 2019 (Photo by TOSHIFUMI KITAMURA / AFP)
Japan’s WBA super lightweight flyweight champion Hiroto Kyoguchi tested positive for the coronavirus, his gym announced on Monday, forcing organizers to scrap his title defense against Thanongsak Simsri of Thailand.
The 26-year-old Kyoguchi, who was due to face Thanongsak in Osaka on Tuesday, simply tweeted: “I’m so sorry” without elaborating.
“Today we learned that Kyoguchi and his coach tested positive for the coronavirus,” a member of the Kyoguchi gym staff told AFP.
“The title game scheduled for tomorrow is canceled,” he said, adding that he could reorganize for a later date.
Kyoguchi has so far shown no symptoms, local media said.
Both Kyoguchi and Thanongsak, 20, are 14-0 as professionals. Kyoguchi was supposed to defend his title in May, but the fight was postponed due to the pandemic.
The Thai boxer had quarantined himself in Japan ahead of the fight at an Osaka stadium where organizers planned to halve the number of spectators to about 2,000 as part of anti-infection measures.
The abrupt announcement came just hours after the two boxers passed their weigh-in.
It would have been the first match for the men’s world title held in Japan since the pandemic began.
Local Kyoguchi fans seemed to understand the cancellation, with one of them tweeting, “You shouldn’t regret it. We look forward to the next game. “
Japan is making a tentative return to hosting events with international athletes as it navigates tough questions about how it can host the Olympics postponed by viruses next year.
Questions arose about a gymnastics event involving China, Russia, the United States and Japan when the International Gymnastics Federation said Kohei Uchimura, the two-time men’s Olympic champion, had tested positive.
But the test was later revealed to be a false positive, with Uchimura testing negative and he is now scheduled to enter the competition this weekend in Tokyo.
Officials are also testing a series of crowd-capable sporting events with an eye toward next year’s Games.
On Friday, thousands of fans flooded a ballpark near Tokyo that will host Olympic events next year as a test of coronavirus prevention measures.
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