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Holy salkow, Batman, Miki’s back! Yes, Japan’s very own Babe on Ice, Miki Ando, roared back to form in the opening event of the Grand Prix figure skating series, not only winning October’s Skate America competition in Connecticut, but overshadowing younger teen star Mao Asada, everybody’s current tip for greatness. Ando, of course, was panned after finishing a disappointing 15th at the Turin Olympics, but she’s lost a bit of chunkiness and taken her skating to a higher level; maybe now she will start to fulfill her promise. Next up on the calendar is the NHK Trophy from November 30 to December 3 in Nagano. Japan’s women skaters are hot right now. Catch them while you can. FV See sports listings for details.
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By
Fred Varcoe
Masamori Tokuyama
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| Tokuyama (right) gets
set to defend his title against Katsushige Kawashima |
When Katsushige Kawashima steps into the
ring at Yokohama Arena on June 28, he’ll have no trouble
recognizing his opponent. After all, the two men faced each
other exactly a year ago. Kawashima might, however, wonder
where he is. Even though his 29-year-old foe was born in Japan,
fights under a Japanese name, and lives in Osaka, WBC Super-Flyweight
Champion Masamori Tokuyama is very Korean. And his fans are
happy to remind everybody in the stadium of that fact. They
dress in Korean gear, hoist Korean banners, bang Korean drums
and sing Korean songs. Curiously, though, the only person
not allowed into South Korea is Tokuyama himself; he’s
been banned for visiting North Korea. He’s also banned
from the United States.
Still, when did governments ever represent their people? Tokuyama
is probably as popular in South Korea as he is in Japan, for
despite his allegiance to Korea (he has a North Korean passport
but fights under the “One Korea” banner), most Japanese
fans have great admiration for the Tokyo-born fighter. To
some, he represents the disenfranchised, while to others he
is merely a talented sportsman with little ego and an everyman
quality. After an appearance at the Foreign Correspondents’
Club of Japan last summer, members of the club’s staff
were falling over themselves to shake his hand,
a curious occurrence in a place where presidents and princes
have appeared.
But this reaction reinforces what Tokuyama is all about. He’s
an honest professional in a dodgy world. Part of the discipline
he has acquired actually came from another fighting art: karate.
His father was a karate champion, and the young Hong Chang
Su started out following in his dad’s footsteps. He discovered
boxing by accident as a teenager, and even though he was forced
to give up the martial art, it’s had a lasting influence
on his style. Karate helped Tokuyama hone his terrific speed,
and it’s obvious the fighter has a bit of Muhammad Ali
about him in the way he jabs and moves.
“It may be a bit of an exaggeration, but I do see some
resemblance in our styles,” Tokuyama told Metropolis.
“But I’m no Ali and, besides, we’re two different
fighters, so it’s not as if I look at him for pointers.”
Perhaps because of his late start in the sport, Tokuyama says
he knew little about the heroes of boxing. Besides Ali, the
only other fighters Tokuyama was well-acquainted with were
Mike Tyson and Sugar Ray Leonard. “When I started boxing
I didn’t know anybody, really,” Tokuyama admits.
“I knew Tyson because he was so famous, and after I started
boxing, Sugar Ray Leonard really impressed me with his speed
and style…His boxing was so extravagant and beautiful.”
Not an accusation that is ever likely to be aimed at his June
28 opponent. Kawashima is your ultimate stalker. Hands up,
head down, shoulders hunched and movements like Quasimodo.
Kawashima looks like a man itching for a fight, looks like
he’s just been in a fight and looks like the type of
person you really don’t want to have to fight. Tokuyama,
meanwhile, is the pretty side of boxing—outrageously
thin (though both men weigh in at 52kg), good-looking, blond,
quiet, respectful of his opponents, happily married. In the
ring, he stays on his toes and dances around opponents, flashing
his lightning jab and occasionally hanging around long enough
to draw blood. Against Kawashima, there will be no letup;
this is a man who can’t take a step backwards.
“If you try to run from an aggressive fighter like Kawashima,
he keeps coming forward and you will get exhausted by running,”
he explains. In last year’s fight, Tokuyama employed
his classic dance-in, hit, dance-out tactics to try and frustrate
Kawashima. It worked—Tokuyama won a unanimous decision—but
he damaged his left hand early on, which limited his tactics.
“I enjoyed the fight last time I met Kawashima because
he’s an interesting opponent, and with my style I have
to think about my opponent quite a bit, so that makes it more
interesting for me. In those exchanges we had, if I hit him
and avoided getting hit, I felt really great. For me, that’s
an achievement.”
Part of Tokuyama’s appeal is undoubtedly the fact that
he has successfully defended his title eight times already.
It hasn’t all been smooth running, and in his last fight
he had a terrible 11th round after dominating the first ten.
Trading punches is not his strong suit. If he stands toe-to-toe
with Kawashima, bad things could happen. He recognizes this
reality and the finite nature of boxers’ careers, but
negative thinking is never in his mind.
“Unlike other sports like soccer or sumo, boxing is a
one-time thing. You get one chance,” Tokuyama says. “If
you are a yokozuna and you lose, you are still a yokozuna.
If a boxer loses, he sacrifices his title and slides down
the ranks. You’re always living on the edge in boxing.
“If I can keep my motivation, I will continue, but physically
there is a limit. A pro boxer is like a product: If the product
loses its value, it’s not worth much. But I don’t
want to think about it, because if you do, you start thinking
about losing. That happens sometimes, but then I have to force
myself not to think about it.”
Masamori Tokuyama faces Katsushige
Kawashima June 28 at the Yokohama Arena. See listings for
details.
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with METROPOLIS readers at http://forum.japantoday.com
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