With injured Christian ‘The Bomb’ Araneta out for six months, it’s increasingly becoming clear that Japanese boxer Masamichi Yabuki is going to be the mandatory challenger to Sivenathi ‘Special One’ Nontshinga’s world title.
Nontshinga, the reigning International Boxing Federation (IBF) junior-flyweight champion, had been ordered to defend against Araneta. That was so until the Filipino boxer injured his left hand.
And with Araneta out of the way, Yabuki, a former World Boxing Council (WBC) junior-flyweight titlist, is the next in line as he’s rated number two by the IBF.
“I’m focusing on the (Lerato) Dlamini eliminator at the moment. And after that I will turn my attention to Nontshinga’s next move,” Nontshinga’s trainer and manager Colin ‘Nomakanjani’ Nathan said.
Yabuki held the WBC crown between September 2021 and March 2022 after he had stopped Kenshiro ‘The Amazing’ Teraji. The latter dethroned Yabuki during a rematch in March 2022.
Meanwhile, the 31-year-old Yabuki, who is based in Nagoya, has won 16 fights, stopping 15 opponents and losing four times while being stopped twice. – Monwabisi Jimlongo
