March 18, 2008
TOKYO, JAPAN
WBC#25 OPBF light-heavy champ Crazy Kim (AKA Toshiharu Kaneyama; 28-4, 24 KOs), 173.25, easily disposed of Vitori Natawake (reportedly 5-4, 3 KOs), 174.25, Fiji, at 2:30 of the second round in a non-title ten on Tuesday in Tokyo, Japan.
Kim caught the muscular Fijian with a countering right to send him sprawling to the deck in the first, and floored him twice more in the second session. His final haymaker was a vicious left uppercut to the stomach, which put him prone in agony.
Kim, ex-OPBF 154-pound and 168-pound ruler, is gunning for a shot at the WBA 175-pound belt again Danny Green in Australia. The shaven skulled Japanese is slated to meet Daniel Lavett (15-3, 9 KOs) in a quest for the vacant PABA light-heavy throne beneath Greenfs first WBA defense against Hugo Herman Garay in Perth, Australia, on April 27. Kim will be the very first Japanese boxer that will participate in a title bout of the PABA (Pan Asian Boxing Association), a rival regional organization to the OPBF (Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation).
The OPBF is subject to the WBC, while the PABA to the WBA. Therefore, Kimfs participation in the PABA elimination bout may produce controversies among OPBF member countries including Japan, or may cause Japan to affiliate with the PABA in the nearest future.
Slick-punching Nobuhisa Doi (21-10-6, 7 KOs), 126, formerly a sparring partner for Marco Antonio Barrera in Mexico, utilized his superior skills and speed in outscoring Takayuki Yaita (7-10, 4 KOs), 126, by a unanimous nod (79-74 twice and 79-73) over eight.
Promoter: Yonekura Promotions.
(3-18-08)