Former flyweight champion Daigo Higa claimed he’d retire if he lost to WBA bantamweight champ Antonio Vargas this morning, and though the pair ultimately battled to a hard-fought draw that saw Vargas salvage his title with a last-minute knockdown, Higa subsequently announced that he’s leaving the sport at 29.
Higa kicked off his career in 2014 with an absolute rampage through the 112-pound ranks, knocking out each of his first 15 opponents and making two successful defenses of the WBC title after
claiming it with a beatdown of Juan Hernandez Navarrete. Then came what would become a unfortunate career turning point that saw him badly miss weight against Cristofer Rosales, succumb to blows in the ninth, and be forced to move to bantamweight by the notoriously strict Japanese Boxing Commission.
Now undersized and struggling to make a dent with his vaunted power, Higa opened his 118-pound career with a 2-1-1 run, including a draw with Seiya Tsutsumi and decision loss to Ryosuke Nishida that time has since vindicated. Despite this, he managed to rattle off four straight victories to re-enter contention and set up the trio of title fights that closed his career.
In the first, Higa gave Yoshiki Takei everything he could handle but ultimately walked away with a narrow decision defeat. He rematched Tsutsumi in the second, riding a strong opening half to a questionable draw. Finally, just hours ago, he fell agonizingly short once again.
29 is young to retire, but if the JBC won’t let him go to 115, it might be the right call. He’s taken a ton of damage over the years and there’s no path to a title that doesn’t go through either someone he already failed to best or Junto Nakatani. If this is the last we see of Higa, though, he’s got a lot to be proud of.
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