Akihiko Honda of Teiken Promotions, Japan, said at the press conference on Tuesday, “If Edwin Valero and Hozumi Hasegawa are victorious this coming Thursday, they may defend their world belts in Texas next.”
June 11, 2008
TOKYO, JAPAN
Akihiko Honda of Teiken Promotions, Japan, said at the press conference on Tuesday, “If Edwin Valero and Hozumi Hasegawa are victorious this coming Thursday, they may defend their world belts in Texas next.”
WBA super-feather champ, perfect KO artist Edwin Valero (23-0, 23 KOs), a Japan-based Venezuelan under Teiken, will put his belt and unblemished KO record against Japanese challenger Takehiro Shimada (22-3-1, 15 KOs) at the Nihon Budokan (Japanese Martial Arts Hall), Tokyo, Japan. On the twinbill, WBC bantam ruler Hozumi Hasegawa (23-2, 7 KOs) will face Cristian Faccio (15-2, 10 KOs), from Uruguay, with his belt on the line over twelve rounds. In a supporting event, unbeaten OPBF 130-pound titlist Takashi Uchiyama (9-0, 7 KOs), ex-national amateur champ, will defend his belt against compatriot Hero Bando (19-8-6, 8 KOs) over twelve.
Valero, 26, confidently said, “Even if it should go the distance, the winner will be me, not Shimada. I’ll carefully watch him and look for the openings to finish him.” Valero had been strenuously training under the tutelage of his new trainer Kenny Adams in Las Vegas, and Kenny also predicted Valero’s impressive performance with technical improvements. The Venezuelan was recently granted a license to fight in the US after extensive medical exams by the Texas Commission.
The 27-year-old Japanese southpaw Hasegawa, making his sixth defense, also showed his confidence, saying, “I’m in a tip-top condition, so I’ll display my career-best performance and fully entertain the crowd.”
The officials are as follows:
WBC bantam title bout: referee Toby Gibson; judges Alan Krebs, Max De Luca and Stephen Blea; and supervisor Robert Yalen (all from the US).
WBA super-feather title bout: referee Guillermo Perez Pineda (Panama); judges Tom Miller (US), Raul Caiz Jr. (US) and Derek Milham (Australia); and supervisor Yangsup Shim (Korea).
This show is presented by Teiken Promotions to be telecast live by Nippon TV (NTV) from 7PM.
(6-11-08)