Nishida continues to look for unification with Nakatani
Yesterday at the Sumiyoshi SportsCenter, Osaka fans had the chance to see IBF Bantamweight champion Ryosuke Nishida (10-0, 2) [西田凌佑] record his first defense, as he stopped Thai challenger Anuchai Donsua (16-1, 7) with a sickening body shot in round 7. The win showed that the usually light punching Nishida did have enough power in his hands to stop a capable fighter, even if his style isn’t one of power shots, and was a much different style of fight to the one that had seen him win the title, taking a hard fought decision over Emmanuel Rodriguez back in May.
Today Nishida and his team took part in a press conference, talking about the contest, and hopes for the future.
Nishida explained that he sees his next bout taking place at Bantamweight, though it’s obvious that he is expecting to move up sooner or later, and that he was hoping to face the current WBC champion Junto Nakatani (29-0, 22) [中谷 潤人] stating "I can stay in the bantamweight class a little longer. I want to fight Nakatani, who is the most highly rated fighter."
In regards to his win Nishida wasn’t happy about the performance, saying "The content of the match was not good, but I'm glad I got the KO." That was something that was echoed by promoted Takashi Edagawa, who explained "I'm relieved that he won and got a KO, but I was worried that he was out of shape because he seemed to have stopped moving in the first and second rounds. But his left body shot in time with his opponent's one-two punch at the end was amazing."
Interesting Nishida’s chief trainer, Takeichi Kosuke, shared some interesting information after the fight, explining, "He injured his left rib cage three weeks ago, so we didn't have much sparring, and we weren't sure how he would fare until we actually got into the ring. In fact, his movement was poor. The left body hook that he used to finish off his opponent was something he'd been working on since his fight against Rodriguez, so it seems that he won to a certain extent on his own.”
Interestingly Edagawa revealed a notable bit of information himself, regarding Nishida’s future. Explaining that he wanted Nishida to have some time to recover his mind and body, ruling out a Spring time fight, with an ideal date for Nishida’s next bout being around June. Whether that’s Nakatani, or another strong fighter, obviously depends on availability. Takeichi also made it clear that the choice of opponent was important, stating, "We are no longer in an era where you are evaluated based on the number of times you defend your title, but rather it is important to fight against capable opponents."
Today Nishida and his team took part in a press conference, talking about the contest, and hopes for the future.
Nishida explained that he sees his next bout taking place at Bantamweight, though it’s obvious that he is expecting to move up sooner or later, and that he was hoping to face the current WBC champion Junto Nakatani (29-0, 22) [中谷 潤人] stating "I can stay in the bantamweight class a little longer. I want to fight Nakatani, who is the most highly rated fighter."
In regards to his win Nishida wasn’t happy about the performance, saying "The content of the match was not good, but I'm glad I got the KO." That was something that was echoed by promoted Takashi Edagawa, who explained "I'm relieved that he won and got a KO, but I was worried that he was out of shape because he seemed to have stopped moving in the first and second rounds. But his left body shot in time with his opponent's one-two punch at the end was amazing."
Interesting Nishida’s chief trainer, Takeichi Kosuke, shared some interesting information after the fight, explining, "He injured his left rib cage three weeks ago, so we didn't have much sparring, and we weren't sure how he would fare until we actually got into the ring. In fact, his movement was poor. The left body hook that he used to finish off his opponent was something he'd been working on since his fight against Rodriguez, so it seems that he won to a certain extent on his own.”
Interestingly Edagawa revealed a notable bit of information himself, regarding Nishida’s future. Explaining that he wanted Nishida to have some time to recover his mind and body, ruling out a Spring time fight, with an ideal date for Nishida’s next bout being around June. Whether that’s Nakatani, or another strong fighter, obviously depends on availability. Takeichi also made it clear that the choice of opponent was important, stating, "We are no longer in an era where you are evaluated based on the number of times you defend your title, but rather it is important to fight against capable opponents."