International Boxing Federation’s third-ranked super featherweight Kenichi Ogawa of Teiken Boxing Gym left from Narita Airport to the United States on Nov. 21 to face second-ranked Azinga Fuzile of South Africa for the vacant IBF title on Nov. 27 (Nov. 28 Japan time) at Madison Square Garden’s Hulu Theater in New York, the gym said on Nov. 21.

The gym quoted Ogawa as saying, ‘’I wound up my sparring sessions on Friday (Nov. 19) with a good image thanks mainly to the sparring with my stablemates Mikito Nakano and Kenji Fujita initially and then with Yamato Hata and Subaru Murata as scheduled.’’

‘’I am taking control of my weight as planned and will do a final adjustment in New York. Though I heard it is cold in New York now, I will try to perspire a lot in my final adjustment since I am in good condition. I am becoming more and more hyper because not everybody can fight at MSG, ‘’Ogawa continued.

It will be Ogawa’s first world title fight in about four years because while he beat Tevin Farmer of the U.S. in December 2017 to win the vacant IBF title, it was later declared a no contest since Ogawa tested positive for an illegal substance used to cure his cold and atopic dermatitis.

Ogawa wound up his comment by saying, ‘’Mr. (Ryota) Murata (World Boxing Association middleweight ‘’super’’ champion) also told me to do my best, and I am determined to do that. Mr. Murata himself has a big fight waiting for him (on Dec. 29 with IBF middleweight champion Gennadiy Golovkin of Kazakhstan in a title unification match). In this connection, I feel a personal attachment to the IBF’s red-colored championship belt. I am therefore full of emotion as I have an opportunity to obtain the red-colored belt myself. I will be fully prepared for that.’’

The 33-year-old Ogawa has a record of 25 wins, including 18 knockouts, against a loss and a draw with one no contest. For his part, the 25-year-old Fuzile is a southpaw with a 15-1 win-loss tally with nine KOs.  Photo by Teiken Boxing Gym