Takehiro Shimada of Japan arrived in Namibia on Monday in preparation for his WBA lightweight world title fight against Namibia’s world champion Paulus “The Hitman” Moses on Saturday the promoter of the fight, Nestor Tobias said that the fight would now definitely take place after the arrival of the 37-year-old Japanese boxer. “We have finally got the boxer in Namibia, so I have now won the first round and the fight will definitely take place on Saturday,” he said.
Shimada was accompanied by his trainer Kuniaki Shibata and manager Kengi Yonekura at the press conference, but none of them could speak much English. Shimada said he was at ringside when Moses beat Japan’s Yusuke Kobori in Yokahama on January 3, and described the Namibian as a “good fighter,” while the fight against Kobori was a “good fight.”
He said that Moses was a good fighter with a lot of speed, but he was confident of winning the world title, saying, “of course I will win.”
Moses, for his part, was in an upbeat mood, saying he was ready for the fight. “I don’t have any injury problems and everything is fine. I am just waiting for the big day to come,” he said.
Tobias added that although Moses had not been in action since winning the world title on January 3, he was in top shape. “The Hitman has already done 600km of road running and 800 rounds of sparring in the ring, so he is in top shape and will be ready,” he said.
He added that Shimada is a very experienced boxer who beat a top up and coming young prospect in his last fight.
Shimada, who has been a professional fighter for the past 12 years, has a professional record of 23 wins, four defeats and one draw. In his only fight so far this year he beat Ameth Diaz of Panama on a fourth round knockout in Japan in March.
His previous fight came in June 2008, when Shimada challenged Edwin Valero of Venezuela for the WBA world super featherweight title, but he lost on a seventh round technical knockout.
Shimada’s fight against Moses will be the first time that he has fought outside of Japan.
