JAPANESE boxer Kenichi Yamaguchi is a big fan of Filipino fighters and wants to learn boxing the Filipino way.
?My goal for now is to win and learn more about Philippine boxing,? Yamaguchi said through an interpreter during his visit to Sun.Star Cebu yesterday.
Yamaguchi is one of the five foreign boxers who will see action in ?Pinoy Pride 4 ? Philippines vs. World? on March 19 at the Waterfront Hotel and Casino.
He will face Filipino prospect Marjohn Yap in an eight-round bout.
This is Yamaguchi?s second trip to the Philippines since 2009, when he trained for two weeks at the ALA gym.
During that short visit to Cebu, Yamaguchi sparred with now retired fighter Z Gorres, Michael Domingo and former world champion Malcolm Tu?acao.
?Boxers from the Philippines are different from the Japanese. They (Filipinos) punch harder,? Yamaguchi said.Although he is Japanese, he doesn?t look up to any of the boxers his country has produced and instead idolizes Manny Pacquiao and Nonito Donaire Jr.
?Boxing in Japan is not that good,? said the 30-year-old boxer who is 16-1. ?Japanese boxers are not that strong. I went outside (of Japan) to look for better opponents.?
Even if he idolizes both Pacquiao and Donaire Jr., he doesn?t mimic either of their styles because he believes he has a style of his own.
?Manny Pacquiao is Manny Pacquiao and Donaire is Donaire. My technique is good and I have my own style and I won?t imitate (their styles) but learn from the good points of Pacquiao and Donaire,? he said.
Yamaguchi arrived in Cebu City last Monday, three weeks early for his fight, to acclimatize to the country?s hot weather.
Since his countrymen will face the Philippines in the Davis Cup Asia Oceana tie, Yamaguchi will also try to cheer for his compatriots today at Plantation Bay. The Philippines, led by Cecil Mamiit, will also have boxer Rey Bautista and other ALA fighters cheering for them.
If Yamaguchi impresses ALA Promotions in his upcoming fight, the Cebu-based promotional company might ink him to fight under their banner.
?I?ll do my best and I won?t give up,? said Yamaguchi of his upcoming fight against Yap. ?His technique is good. His speed is good. He is a good boxer. I?ll try my best to knock him out.?
Published in the Sun.Star Cebu newspaper on March 03, 2011.
