By Joe Koizumi
Since the historically first encounter of Japanese warriors fighting with the undisputed world title on the line (when Hiroshi Kobayashi dethroned Yoshiaki Numata via KO route in 1967), there have been few disappointing shows between compatriots. Almost all were so hard-fought that our afficionados were fully entertained with their hot grueling performances. The press conference of the forthcoming WBC bantamweight vacant title bout took place in Tokyo on Friday with WBC#1 Tenshin Nasukawa (7-0, 2 KOs) and #2 Takuma Inoue (20-2, 5 KOs) as the headliners.
Tenshin, a prefight favorite, proudly said, “Should I be victorious, the boxing world may change without doubt.” Takuma, two years his senior at 29 and two-time world titlist, also confidently said, “My victory will stun the public. I wish to inflict the first defeat to the unbeaten Tenshin.”
Teiken Promotions presents sensational undercard bouts, as follows: Unbeaten southpaw hard-puncher IBF#5 Mikito Nakano (14-0, 13 KOs) will face #3 Ra’eese Aleem (22-1, 12 KOs), US, to decide the mandatory challenger to IBF feather ruler Angelo Leo in the IBF eliminator over ten.
In his just third professional bout, former World Championship gold medalist (the very first out of Japan) WBO#14 Tomoya Tsuboi (2-0, 1 KO) will square off against WBC#1 super fly Carlos Cuadras (44-5-1, 28 KOs) over ten. Tsuboi, a versatile speedster, said, “I’ll overwhelmingly beat him up.”
Fast-rising southpaw bantam WBA#4 Riku Masuda (8-1, 8 KOs) will meet WBC#15 Jose Calderon (14-2, 6 KOs), from Mexico, over ten. Having beaten ex-WBC bantam ruler Alexandro Santiago by an upset majority decision last November, Calderon entered the WBC top fifteen to his credit. The lanky Mexican may be a tough touchstone for Masuda who is willing to display his tremendous power punching.
