The Boxer
Yesterday, June 15 was the first anniversary of my best friend’s death. So, let me talk about him.
There are only two world boxing champions that I remember the names. One is, of course, our great Filipino champion, Manny Paqcuiao and I’m a big fan of him. Another one is Yusuke Kobori, who won the WBA lightweight title by knocking out the Nicaraguan champion in the 3rd round on May 19, 2008.
I had a friend who was a boxer. His name was Junji Murakami and also went by the name of “El Matador” because of his quickness and beautiful techniques.
On May 19, 2007, Murakami fought 7 rounds against Kobori in the title match of OPBF (Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation) Super featherweight Championship, and he lost. I was luckily able to watch his last fight since I was in Japan. I had a business trip at that time and I had to go back to the Philippines the day after the title match. In the following morning, he sent me off at Narita Air Port even he was exhausted with the damages he got in the fight. He had hit the mat twice that night.
Three weeks after the title match, his fiancé found him dead at his apartment. According to the result of the autopsy, the cause of death was heart failure. But, everybody understood the real cause. I have heard that Kobori also attended Murakami’s funeral conducted few days.
Kobori shifted to lightweight and exactly one year after the big day, he became the WBA lightweight champion. And now, he has conveyed his interest to fight against Manny Pacquiao.
As I said, I’m a big fan of Manny. But this time, I support Kobori if they fight. How about you?
< ![CDATA[wow. interesting story, ichi. amazing how this all circles back to manny.
i'm sorry to hear about your friend. i certainly hope his wife has learned to cope with the loss. what a good friend to accompany you to the airport the morning after a tough fight.
i've sort of outgrown the manny hype & i get dirty looks from pinoys when i say this. he's an exciting fighter & fun to watch. but all the hyper patriotic mania plus the politcal hanger ons in ringside & his personal life leaves a bad taste for me. still, he's seems like a good guy & it's not hard to root for the guy when the bell rings.]]>
manny is fighting delahoya in december and if he doesnt end up in a coma after that fight ( delahoya is to big for manny) manny will fight the winner of marquez and joel csalmayor or ricky hatton !!!!!!