JAPANESE FLYWEIGHT CHAMPIONS AVOIDING DONAIRE
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Tue, 03 Jun 2008
Reigning Japanese world flyweight champions Daisuke Naito (WBC) and Takefumi Sakata (WBA) continue to avoid IBF champion Nonito ?The Filipino Flash? Donaire who has challenged the Japanese to a unification bout.
Donaire (19-1, 12 KO's) who won the IBF title with a smashing fifth round one-punch knockout of Australia?s Vic Darchinyan on July 7 last year and then smashed Mexico?s Luis Maldonado into submission in eight rounds last December 1 has expressed his willingness to fight the Japanese in their own hometown but there has been no response.
Instead, the two world champions are defending their titles against fellow Japanese in an obvious attempt to make sure the world titles remain in Japanese hands effectively making a mockery of the sport.
What is even worse is that Naito (32-2-3, 20 KO?s) who trained for one week at the famed ALA Gym of respected boxing patron Tony Aldeguer recently, will defend his title against countryman Tomonobu Shimizu who is not even rated in the top ten and has a record of 13-2 with 5 knockouts. WBO Asia Pacific minimum weight champion Milan Milendo and Philippine flyweight champion Rocky Fuentes gave Naito a hard time in sparring and indications are that Donaire will demolish Naito if they ever meet.
Sakata (32-4-2, 15 KO?s) will put his WBA belt on the line against another Japanese Hiroyuki Hisataka (16-6-1, 5 KO?s) who is ranked No. 3 and is coming off a recent victory over Hussein Hussein. However, Hisataka lost his three previous bouts including one to Wyndel Janiola of the Philippines.
Well-known Japanese matchmaker, boxing manager and journalist Joe Koizumi himself stated ?whoever wins, the number of world bets in Japan will not change, but it might be a problem whether people love such confrontations of compatriots as they look like national title bouts though the WBC and WBA belts are at stake.?
Koizumi?s claim that ?we now have seven world champions in Japan? is considered somewhat misleading because while Jorge Linares the WBC featherweight champion and Edwin Valero the WBA super featherweight champion may live in Japan, they are not Japanese.
In contrast, the Philippines has five Filipino world champions led by boxing icon Manny Pacquiao, the WBC super featherweight champion, Donaire, the IBF/IBO flyweight champion, Gerry Penalosa the WBO bantamweight champion, Donnie Nietes the WBO minimum weight champion and Florante Condes the IBF minimum weight champion.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
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