Japanese Scene: Updates on Hozumi Hasegawa & Nobuhiro Ishida
by The Boxing Bulletin on Sep 15, 2010 1:56 PM EDT
in Japanese Scene
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PrintSidney Boquiren of RingwalkNippon has the latest Japanese boxing news. For more updates, you can follow Sidney on twitter: RingwalkNippon@Twitter
Hasegawa could face Juan Carlos Burgos for vacant WBC 126 title
Jiji.com and Fightnews.com are reporting that former WBC bantamweight titleholder Hozumi Hasegawa will be fighting for the same organization’s 126-pound title on November 26. Installed as the #2 contender in the most recent rankings posted by the Mexican organization, the southpaw will face undefeated prospect Juan Carlos Burgos for the vacant regular crown as it looks like current strapholder Elio Rojas will be treated as a champion in recess.
Hasegawa’s lead promoter, Teiken’s Akihiko Honda, had been hinting at the possibility of an immediate chance at a title - despite the fact that it would be his client’s first fight in a new weight class should he depart his previous division. When the new ratings were released days ago, it seemed likely that a move north to 126 was imminent and that Honda’s suggestions could actually manifest.
Twenty-two year old Burgos will be facing his toughest and most seasoned opponent in Hasegawa, but the Tijuana native is a budding star in his own right. Though he has only stepped up in competition recently, Burgos scored a nice victory in May against three-time world title challenger Ricardo Castillo.
The fight would be a part of a doubleheader with Takahiro Ao squaring off against Vitali Tajbert. The former featherweight champ will be attempting to win his second title in as many weight classes as the Germany-based Kazakhstani holds the WBC super featherweight strap,
Ishida ordered to fight Trout
Interim WBA junior middleweight beltholder Nobuhiro Ishida will be facing Austin "No Doubt" Trout after all as Panama has ordered that the 35-year old must take on the undefeated prospect in order to claim the regular title. The "Regular Champion" designation was made available when Miguel Cotto was elevated to "Super Champion" status, and though that would normally mean Ishida would be similarly promoted, the organization decided otherwise.
Ishida (27-5-2, 7KO) had been targeting the regular champion, first Yuri Foreman, then Miguel Cotto, since he won the interim version in August 2009. He planned to make the second defense of that trinket later this month against Saul Alvarez’s brother.
Trout (21-0, 13KO), on the other hand, had been calling out Ishida for quite a while now. It looks like he will finally get the fight and a shot at a world title.
A purse bid is scheduled for next Tuesday.
For more coverage of Japanese boxing, follow Sidney on Twitter: RingwalkNippon@Twitter
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Ugh
So stupid. No reason whatsoever for promoting Miguel Cotto to “super champion”, other than the fact he’s famous.
And as of today, Anthony Mundine is a mandatory for that belt as well.
Ao/Tajbert isn’t a bad B-side to to Hasegawa-Burgos at all, although it’s destined to be a technical fight. I don’t rate Tajbert that highly, so while I don’t think Ao is great shakes, he certainly would have a good chance of winning, especially in front of a Japanese crowd.
And just as an aside, they need to stop changing the romajization of Japanese names. My wife’s father’s US passport says Andou. My wife’s passport says Andoh. But if we had a kid with her last name and the kid was born in Japan, the last name would be Ando. My wife (who’s a dual citizen) has had trouble getting her Japanese passport renewed because they keep trying to change the English spelling of her last name.
Anyway. /rant.
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"Baseball is played on the field, not on a calculator."
Agreed!
I refrained from leaving comments on the organization for elevating Cotto to “Super” champ. Other than that, I suppose they wanted to free up a title so they could make some extra coin on the fees they will get for not only Ishida-Trout, but the soon-to-be-vacant interim trinket as well.
I feel a little sorry for Ishida as all he probably wanted was an opportunity to face the best in the division (and earn the paycheck that comes with it), but I still think his hopes were far from realistic. Fighting Trout will probably be better for him in the long run, even though a win would probably be accompanied by comments that the New Mexico-native was untested (regardless of whether that is a fair assessment or not). It looks like I may get some time to talk to No Doubt in the coming weeks to hear his side of the negotiations and to get some insight on his preparations. Do you have an early favorite for the fight?
Tajbert/Ao could be a nice, competitive bout, though I agree that it will likely be a technical one. The Japanese southpaw has good (but not great) skills but has added some mass since moving to 130 and may try to mix it up a bit.
I was meaning to ask you what brought you out here when you mentioned before that you had come to Japan. I imagine that problems with romanizations are worst going across generations as in your case. I am actually not sure as to what the standard is now as you will see names, at least on business cards, with the additional “u” and “h” as in your personal example. Boxrec changed several of the romanizations earlier this year and we had to go back and edit out the h’s from “Ohta” and “Aoh”.
by RingwalkNIPPON on Sep 15, 2010 10:51 PM EDT up reply actions
Very glad to see Hasegawa finally move up in weight
If a man ain't found something worth dying for. He ain't fit to live.
I know that’s what you have been hoping he would do. How do you think he matches up with Burgos?
by RingwalkNIPPON on Sep 16, 2010 9:32 PM EDT up reply actions
I think he’s to skilled for Burgos. Burgos is obviously the bigger hitter. But I don’t think he’s quite ready for someone like Hasegawa. He’ll be game. And Hasegawa must avoid getting caught. But I think the skill sets are just not the same. I have it Hasegawa 8 rounds to 4
If a man ain't found something worth dying for. He ain't fit to live.
by Violent Demise on Sep 18, 2010 3:01 AM EDT up reply actions
