Andre Ueda, the manager at Hatanaka Promotions, doubts Duncan Village boxer Yanga ‘Showtime’ Sigqibo can upstage former world champion Kosei Tanaka when they clash in Japan this coming Sunday.
Speaking to Ink Sport, Ueda admitted, though, that Sigqibo would be a worthy opponent for the Japanese when they clash at the Takeda Teva Ocean Arena in Nagoya.
“He’s very tall, very quiet, very shy and a good boxer while Tanaka is very tough. Tanaka has speed and is a very clever boxer. Maybe your boxer stands no chance,” Ueda, who has a Chinese father and Japanese mother, remarked.
On whether Hatanaka Promotions would give more South African boxers a chance to fight in Japan, Ueda said: “No problem. But it’s too far, that is an issue.”
After spending more than a month at the Hot Box Gym in Johannesburg, Sigqibo travelled to Japan last weekend together with his trainer Thembani ‘Best’ Gopheni and current International Boxing Federation (IBF) junior-flyweight champion Sivenathi ‘Special One’ Nontshinga.
Sigqibo has enjoyed a seven-year unbeaten run with his last and only defeat coming from a fight against Ayanda Ndulani, the current International Boxing Organisation (IBO) minimumweight champion, in October 2015. The former South African junior-bantameight champion has 17 victories (five stoppages), a loss and a draw.
The 27-year-old Tanaka once held the World Boxing Organisation (WBO) minimumweight, junior-flyweight and flyweight titles. Tanaka, a Nagoya resident, has an impressive professional record having won 17 of his fights with 10 of those ending in stoppages against a single loss.
Meanwhile, Sigqibo is rated eighth by the World Boxing Council (WBC) and fourth by the WBO. Tanaka, on the other hand, is rated fourth by both the WBC and the World Boxing Association (WBA) with the IBF and the WBO rating him in third position.
