March 31, 2011
KOBE, JAPAN
Three foreign challengers participating in a world title tripleheader on April 8 arrived on Wednesday in Kobe, Japan. Jhonny Gonzalez (47-7, 41 KOs), from Mexico, will have a mandatory shot at newly crowned WBC feather champ Hozumi Hasegawa at the World Memorial Hall here. Mauricio Munoz (21-2, 9 KOs), of Argentina, will face WBC super-bantam ruler Toshiaki Nishioka. Mexican Humberto Gutierrez (28-2-1, 20 KOs) will try to regain the WBC super-feather belt from Takahiro Aoh.
Gonzalez, 29, said, “I’m well-prepared for this great opportunity to win the WBC feather belt. Nishioka previously came to Mexico to defend his title against me when the H1N1 influenza caused a crisis in Mexico. Now it’s time for Mexico to respond to the Japanese courage then and show our solidarity with Japan this time. This country is coming back, which I wish to show to the world by our good performance here.”
130-pounder Gutierrez, 25, said, “I welcome this chance to regain my belt as I studied the champ Aoh’s style well throughout my training in Mexico. I’ll bring back the belt to Mexico.”
The Argentine Munoz, 22, showed his sympathy with the disastrous earthquake and tsunami in Japan, saying, “We, in Argentina, also suffered terrible earthquakes in 1944 and 1977, and many big buildings collapsed then and there. I hope an early recuperation of this country after the disaster.”
We look forward to seeing the successful tripleheader which was moved from Tokyo to Kobe just two weeks before the show. It was a great decision. All fight fans including those in the most damaged Fukushima, Iwate and Miyagi Prefectures will watch their hot action on the night of Friday next week.
(3-31-11)