Eridson Garcia poised to make Riyadh Season debut against Japan’s Taiga Imanaga

Dominican Republic super featherweight Eridson Garcia can press his claims for a world title shot in 2026 after stepping in to fight Japan’s Taiga Imanaga on December 27^th in Riyadh.

Southpaw Garcia (22-1, 14KOs) was called up this week to take on 26-year-old fellow southpaw Imanaga (9-0, 5KOs) after WBA No 3 Armando Martinez (17-0) withdrew.

The 10-round bout, which was considered an unofficial WBA world title eliminator, features on the undercard of Japanese superstar Naoya Inoue v Alan Picasso in a junior featherweight title fight, which headlines The Ring V: Night of the Samurai.

The show, part of Riyadh Season, will be streamed live on DAZN, giving Garcia a global audience to stake his claim for a world title shot.

The Riyadh fight means that 31-year-old Garcia, ranked 10^th by the WBO, will not headline a hometown bout in Santo Domingo this Friday, in what was the first event of a partnership between BiYu Promotions and Shuan Boxing.

Bobby Harrison, Garcia’s manager and CEO of BiYu Promotions, said: “Eridson was excited about putting on a show for his hometown of Santo Domingo and fighting in front of his Dominican fans, but when an opportunity to fight on the world stage presents itself, you have to take advantage of that.

“Being part of Riyadh Season and on the same event as Naoya Inoue, one of the most popular and exciting fighters in the world right now, means the entire boxing world is watching.

“This is an opportunity that could not be turned down. Eridson’s in good shape and he has worked very hard to get himself into a position to show the world he is worthy of title shots at 130-135.”