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Home > Match Information > IBF super featherweight champ Ogawa clears customary weigh-in 3 days before fight in Cardiff

IBF super featherweight champ Ogawa clears customary weigh-in 3 days before fight in Cardiff

Jun 02, 2022 16:02 pm

International Boxing Federation super featherweight champion Kenichi Ogawa of Teiken Boxing Gym, who is in Cardiff, the capital of Wales, to defend his title against third-ranked Joe Cordina of Britain here on June 4 (5 Japan time), cleared a customary weigh-in on June 1, three days before the fight.

The 34-year-old Ogawa weighed in at a little over the weight limit of 58.967kg (130 lbs), clearing the British Boxing Board of Control-designated maximum overweight of 3% or 1.7 kg (3.75 lbs) of the division’s weight limit three days before a fight.

Before that, Ogawa was interviewed by DAZN, a global over-the-top sports subscription video streaming service entity and showed a public workout at Capital Shopping Park in Cardiff before engaging himself in a full-fledged workout at the city’s UFC Gym in the evening. During the public workout, he met Cordina, 30, for the first time.

The following is Ogawa’s message sent from the Teiken gym.

‘’During the public workout, I was painfully aware of the fact I am really outside Japan. I was booed by some people. But some others responded positively to my waving my hand. Since it was shown on YouTube, some Japanese people might have seen it back in Japan. Anyway, it was a special event typical of overseas.’’

‘’Doing that kind of event in Japan may prove to be interesting. When I was booed, I felt uncomfortable. Though I knew I would be booed, I felt uncomfortable. But when I heard cheers, I felt comfortable. I think I will try to change booing into cheers. I am confident that I can change booing into cheers in the upcoming fight.’’

‘’In the waiting room for the public workout, I met both my opponent Cordina and his compatriot Zelfa Barrett (who will fight in the chief supporting card). I had had the impression that Barret (the Commonwealth super-featherweight champion) would be a happy-go-lucky sort of figure via his social media, etc. He was exactly that kind of person when I met him in person.’’

‘’My impression of Cordina is he looked calm and appeared a nice young man. He did not look like he was a city kid. Anyway, he also looked exactly the same as that in his social media. His height is almost same as that of mine and appeared a good-looking guy. To my way of thinking, his boxing style appears similar to mine in terms of his movement. While he has an ample experience as an amateur boxer, he did not look like he would depend too much on his jabs. I am not sure whether or not his fighting style would mesh properly with mine.’’

The scheduled 12-rounder will be held at the Motorpoint Arena. Ogawa has a record to 26 wins, including 18 KOs, against a loss and a draw with one no contest. For his part, Cordina is undefeated in his 14 fights, including eight KOs, after making his professional debut in April 2017.
Photo by Teiken Boxing Gym

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