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JAPANESE CONTINGENT JETS INTO VEGAS
Thursday 18 July 2002
Four days out from the International Boxing League's opening night, Japan has made quite a statement in regards to their seriousness towards the upcoming tournaments. The boxing mad nation's government has flown a group of their most talented boxers to Las Vegas on an all expenses paid first class flight to attend Monday night's big event.
Looking sharp in designer suits, sporting stylish haircuts and dark shades the quintet of Jaguar Kakizawa (Lightweight), Mitsonuri Seki (Featherweight), Yamada Tsubasa (Lightweight), Masashi Kudo (Middleweight) and Kazuo "Royal" Kobayashi (Featherweight) resembled a group of high-ranking Yakuza and had heads turning as they nonchalantly made their way through McCarran International Airport to a waiting chauffeur-driven limousine this morning.
Anyone who has followed boxing's rapid emergence from obscurity to world wide popularity during the past seven months will know that Japan is, without a doubt, the sport's biggest supporter outside of the United States and while the nation does not have any representatives in the Heavyweight Boxing Federation, it's likely that Monday night will reveal at least twenty in the IBL. In recent weeks, the Japanese government has discussed at length the possibilities that the sport has opened up for the nation as far as competing on the international stage is concerned and they will be watching keenly as the league's regional tournaments unfold during the coming months.
Of the five that arrived in Vegas today, Tokyo-born Yamada Tsubasa is said to be the most talented, despite having minimal amateur experience. The 19 year-old was a virtual unknown before the IBL's selection trials but is now being touted as a possibility for his nation's first World Champion. Those lofty expectations didn't appear to have affected the young man as he strolled through the airport in a relaxed, mellow fashion.
No doubt, Japan's assault on the world of boxing is something that has been much anticipated in the lead-up to the IBL's tournaments. On Monday night, the exact date and time of its commencement will be made known...
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