January 13, 2008
TOKYO, JAPAN
The WBA super-flyweight title bout between defending champ Alexander Munoz (31-2, 27 KOs), a Venezuelan hard-puncher, and Japanese challenger, ex-WBC 115-pound ruler Katsushige Kawashima (32-6, 21 KOs) will take place tomorrow (Monday; our national holiday of Coming-of-Age Day) in Yokohama, Japan.
There was a weigh-in ceremony at 3PM at the Korakuen Hall after a press conference scheduled at 2PM, but the champ didnft appear in time. He had been struggling to reduce a last half pound in his hotel room. The handsome Venezuelan was twenty minutes late for the press conference, where our press people was frustrated by this unusual delay and gave a yawn. The staff of Japan Boxing Commission (JBC) was greatly worried about a reappearance of a notorious Lorenzo Parra case last March, when the WBA flyweight champ of Venezuela amazingly scaled in 118, no less than six pounds over the class limit and was shamefully stripped of his belt on the scale prior to his unsuccessful defense against Takefumi Sakata.
At the press conference at the Korakuen Chinese Restaurant, Munoz, 28, who looked a little tired after feverishly reducing his weight, boldly said, gIfll knock out Kawashima to defend my belt.h Kawashima, a modest-speaking 33-year-old veteran, coolly said, gWe will show a good performance to entertain the crowd, and I hope to win the belt.h Thatfs a customary comment by the Japanese boy. The JBC peoplefs concern was Munozfs weight, as they would have to prepare a two-hour extension for the boxer to make the weight after his unsuccessful first trip to the scale.
Then, all moved up to the fifth floor, the Korakuen Hall, where Munoz made an unofficial check of his weight before 3PM. All the people were relieved to see his avoirdupois at the 115-pound class limit. Unlike in the US, the JBC is so definitely punctual to conduct a weigh-in ceremony at the schedule, this time at 3PM, even though both contestants were already in attendance at the Hall. We had to kill ten minutes.
Both Munoz and Kawashima tipped the beam at the 115-pound class limit, and the ceremony was over. We could avoid a Lorenzo Parra case. There were a few examples that defending champs failed to make the stipulated weight to lose their precious belts before the title bouts such as Chartchai Chionoi (against Susumu Hanagata), Freddy Norwood (against Koji Matsumoto who is currently the trainer of tomorrowfs challenger Kawashima), Noel Aramulet (against Joma Gamboa and Yutaka Niida) and Parra. It was an old episode that former champ Dado Marino had the hair cut and extracted his gold tooth in order to make the weight prior to his rematch with world flyweight ruler Yoshio Shirai (Japanfs first world champ) in 1952. Lately there are not a few Jose Luis Castillos in the world.
Alexander Munoz, 28, is a formidable champ, unbeaten here, having scored six victories in as many bouts in Japan. The Venezuelan (whose amateur mark was 163-9, 129 stoppages) made his first visit as the mandatory challenger against WBA defending titlist Celes Kobayashi, a durable southpaw who had dethroned Venezuelan veteran Leo Gamez, and dropped the champ time and again to capture the belt via eighth-round dramatic demolition in March 2002. Munoz impressively registered his twenty-third consecutive KO win in as many bouts since his pro debut by dispatching Eiji Kojima, a lanky southpaw, in 2002. Though his KO streak was stopped at 23 by artful dodger Hidenobu Honda, another Japanese lefty, in his next defense, Munoz kept his belt twice by a unanimous verdict. The Venezuelan hard-hitter decked his third defense against Kojima again by halting him in the tenth session in January 2004.
It was in Laredo, Texas in December 2004 that Munoz tasted his first setback, hitting the deck twice at the hand of Martin Castillo to forfeit his WBA 115-pound belt. Having defeated three opponents including Argentine Julio Roque Ler on his comeback trail, Munoz attempted to win back the belt from Castillo only to lose a controversial split verdict (112-115, 111-116 and 115-112) in Las Vegas, though decking the champ in the first session in Las Vegas in 2006.
The WBA super-fly belt changed hands from Castillo to Nobuo Nashiro, an unbeaten Japanese youngster, against whom Munoz had a mandatory shot in May of the previous year. Munoz proved too strong and powerful for Nashiro, regaining the belt by a nearly lopsided decision (118-109, 117-112 and 117-111) in Tokyo. Munoz, called gEl Explosivo (The explosive man)h in Venezuela, kept his belt for the first time since regaining it, as he kept stalking negative footworker Kuniyuki Aizawa all night to pound out a shutout nod in Tokyo last September. Munoz has been beaten by nobody but Castillo (twice).
Kawashima, formerly a baseball player in his schooldays, once wrested the WBC 115-pound belt by a first-round shocker over Masamori Tokuyama in 2004, though having lost to him in his first crack at the world belt in the previous year. Defeating Raul Juarez by decking him three times and Jose Navarro on a highly disputed decision, Kawashima retained his WBC throne twice. But he forfeited it to Tokuyama in their rubber battle in 2005.
Kawashima, a powerful swinger, almost regained the WBC interim crown in an elimination bout with Cristian Mijares, a lanky Mexican southpaw, when he exploded a devastating right to the head and dropped Mijares to the deck in the second only to lose a very hairline verdict (113-114 twice and 114-113) in Yokohama in September 2006. In their rematch in January of the previous year, Mijares became a much improved and more confident boxer, who proved too fast and sharp for Kawashima, a wild banger, to cope with. Kawashima sank in the tenth.
After a five-month hiatus Kawashima made a return to the ring warfare to score a fine knockout triumph over Korean Jaesung Myung and one-sidedly decisioned amazingly skillful Indonesian Adi Wigna to his credit.
Has Kawashima a chance to defeat Munoz? Kawashima, of course, is an underdog against the formidable Munoz. The Venezuelan displayed a very fine form in a public workout, beating up a Japanese sparring partner. Even Kawashimafs manager/promoter Hideyuki Ohashi, ex-WBC/WBA 105-pound champ, was stunned by Munozfs strength. But Munoz seemed to have made a mistake in his final weight-control. If so, the Venezuelan might not be such a great threat in a tip-top shape as our fans and experts too highly evaluate.
Kawashima, a Vito Antuofermo stylist with many scar tissues, is a puncher fighting with his heart. Regardless of his opponentfs technical level, the Japanese makes his kamikaze attack from the start. Thatfs his style. But it might mean that Kawashima will go forward and directly absorb Munozfs devastating counters so that the end will come soon. Kawashima, however, is more durable than such previous Japanese victims of Munoz as Kojima, Nashiro and Aizawa. He may gamely attempt to mix up with Munoz and aim at the champfs untested chin.
Kawashima possesses his good jab and fast footwork, but his flaw is to lose his cool and forget to use these skills only to rely on his roundhouse attack without precision. Kawashima may have a swingerfs chance with his looping overhand right. Kawashima also can punch as he finished 21 opponents out of 32 victories. The outcome will depend on Munozfs mental and physical condition. If too much overconfident, something may or may not happen.
This show is presented by Ohasi Promotions in association with Teiken Promotions. The main event will start at 8:06PM at the Yokohama Cultural Gymnasium.
The WBA officials are as follows: referee Steve Smoger (US); judges Levi Martinez (US), Tom Miller (US) and Jean-Francois Toupin (France); WBA supervisor Alan Kim (Korea).
(1-13-04)