WORLD BEAT
Shervantaigh Koopman has run his record to 15-0 against progressively tougher opponents. Then there is strawweight contender Siyakholwa Kuse, who had a breakout year. Despite his crushing defeat at the hands of Masamichi Yabuki last October, one can also not write off former two-time IBF junior flyweight titleholder Sivenathi Nontshinga, who is plotting a comeback, probably at flyweight. It is, however, not just a question of talent. The right promotional connections and having a beatable champion in front of you at the right time also play a role. Lerena is in that uncomfortable neverland of being unable to make cruiserweight and at a physical disadvantage at heavyweight. Still, he gave very respectable losing efforts against both Daniel Dubois and Huni. Another big fight against a well-known name in the glamor division seems very plausible, but a heavyweight world title is hard to envision. With the departure of Terence Crawford and Errol Spence, the welterweight division is more open than it used to be. Will that work in Mbenge’s favor? It could, but he will have to keep winning, and his lack of an established promoter might hinder his ability to secure a title shot. Koopman has thus far shown solid boxing skills and calm under fire, but the 154-pound division harbors serious talent in the top 10. He is still more than a year away from mixing it up with the likes of Israil Madrimov, Bakhram Murtazaliev and Sebastian Fundora, nevermind Crawford. Tshabalala was underwhelming in his last win. He had to get off the canvas to eke out a split decision over Junior Leandro Zarate, and one must wonder whether he has reached his ceiling. Still, it is in the lower weight divisions where South Africa’s best hopes lie. Ngxeke is well-positioned in some of the sanctioning bodies’ rankings at 118 pounds. His promoter, Xaba Boxing
Promotions, in the past has gotten its charges close to challenging for world belts, only to stumble in eliminators. Ngxeke’s offensive form has been good as of late, but there remains a question mark over his chin. Hopefully he will get a chance in 2025 to roll the dice. Malajika will be facing Jackson Chauke in a local derby at flyweight in March. If he is successful, he is likely to return to junior bantamweight, where there might be an opportunity, with the IBF belt having just been declared vacant. Whoever wins that is likely to be a smaller mountain to climb than anyone named “Bam.” Your best bet is probably in boxing’s smallest division. Kuse scored a stirring 12-round decision over previously unbeaten Beaven Sibanda to end 2024. That win got him a spot in The Ring’s strawweight ratings and the WBC’s “silver” belt, a piece of alphabet hardware that often leads to a title shot. There is already talk of him meeting the champion, Melvin Jerusalem, should the Filipino prevail in his rematch against Yudai Shigeoka in March. JAPAN BY YURIKO MIYATA RIP, Holy Mother of Japanese Boxing Miss Haru Nagano, manager of the legendary Teiken Gym, quietly said goodbye to this world on the first day of 2025. The solemn news was made public five days later, which might have been her own wish so as not to hurt people’s New Year’s holiday, the most traditional three-day celebration in Japanese culture. She would have celebrated her 100th birthday on April 26. Needless to say, Miss Nagano (I hesitate to present her name without courtesy) had been the oldest working person in boxing and was a witness to the entire history of modern Japanese boxing. She was licensed as a manager by the Japan Boxing Commission in
1952, the year the national commission was established to work for the country’s first world title boxing event – flyweight Yoshio Shirai’s defeat of popular Hawaiian Dado Marino to become the first Japanese world champion. It’s still hard to believe she won’t be there anymore when I visit the Teiken Gym in Tokyo, where she always stood, vigilant, looking about the busy floor, taking care of the boxers, sometimes giving advice: “Use your hip to punch harder!” Otherwise, she was busy doing administrative chores in the small office where she could see everyone through the window. Despite her diminutive, fragile-looking stature, she commanded respect, casting an authoritative but caring presence throughout the gym, especially with the younger boxers, even into her 90s. She was missing from the gym when I visited there last July. I heard that she had undergone surgery on a leg fracture and was recovering at her niece’s home, but I thought she might be fine and back in the gym, as she always had before whenever she had fallen ill. To know Miss Nagano was to understand her resilience. Most of us in the Japanese boxing community thought she would just keep going. On November 30, Masashi Sugibayashi, president of Winning boxing equipment, talked to her directly over the phone. “Miss Nagano called me to order a couple of pairs of gloves, just like always. I never thought that it would be the last time I’d speak with her. Even now, I feel as if she might call me at any moment,” said Sugibayashi, one of her closest friends. Miss Nagano had been the backbone of one of the nation’s oldest and most powerful boxing stables, Teiken Boxing, but she wanted to stay behind the scenes. Soon after I joined the editorial staff of Boxing Magazine 30 years ago, I started a serialized column featuring the unsung women who help support the dreams of boxers. I interviewed and wrote about the wives and mothers of boxers, often
in the background, as well as the rare female managers who help boxers and promoters in every way. But the chief editor stopped me from interviewing Miss Nagano, as he had been aware that she never loved the spotlight or publicity. That was kind of an unspoken agreement in the industry, even though we recognized her as an unsung hall-of-famer. I t had been more than 76 years since
knockdown and surviving a leg injury to score a 12th-round stoppage of Thai challenger Chartchai Chionoi in January 1973. And also when strawweight standout Masatate Tsuji passed from a brain injury in his first attempt to win a vacant national title in March 2009. Miss Nagano held that grief deep inside of her but was always
that the sole reason for her dedication to boxing was pure love and honor toward the young fighters who chose the toughest sport and pursue glory with a lot of sacrifice. Her only hope was for their happiness and their health, which is why she commanded strict discipline in the gym. She wanted them to give up alcohol during their boxing career. When
she happened to spot a beer glass in the corner of an obscure photo published in Boxing Magazine, she called the editorial room to ask us to be more careful about it, saying “It’s not good for boxers.” Boxers appreciated her concern. When Kenichi Ogawa
she began working for Teiken in 1948. At the age of 23, she started as a secretary for former president Akira Honda, who was one of the key figures in the beginning of Japanese boxing. After Akira passed away at age 64 in 1965, he was succeeded by his son Akihiko, who was still a teenager. While it is said that Miss Nagano joined Teiken without knowing it’s a boxing promotion company, she learned the sport and business and became a sturdy foundation for the growing
won the vacant IBF 130-pound title by
beating Azinga Fuzile in New York in November 2021, he showed me a custom-made rubber stamp: “IBF super featherweight champion Kenichi Ogawa.” “I made this as part of my determination to win today,” he said. “I wish I could stamp this on your notebook here, but I promised myself to give the first autograph with this stamp to my
stable, supporting the young Honda’s rise to prominence in the old- style Japanese society. She developed enough technical insight to help instruct and support Masao Oba, a skinny but ambitious 16-year-old boy when they first met, all the way to becoming Teiken’s first world champion with a 13th-round knockout of WBA flyweight titleholder Berkrerk Chartvanchai in Tokyo in October 1970. She was always ringside, praying for the boxers’ triumph and safety. She suffered unimaginable sorrow when Oba was killed in a severe car crash just three weeks after he made a dramatic fifth defense of his flyweight title, getting up from an opening-round
manager, Miss Nagano.” Many Teiken alumni would stop by the old gym to talk with her. Yoshihiro Kamegai, a former junior middleweight contender and now a good commentator, visited her recently with a picture and a letter, bringing a peaceful smile to her face. The envelope was addressed: “Dear Grandma.” Miss Nagano dedicated her life to boxing with no time to build her own family, but she is survived by a lot of loving children and grandchildren. She is Japan’s one and only holy mother of ringside. May her soul rest in peace.
Miss Haru Nagano with WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman.
there for boxers and lived long enough to witness the birth of Teiken’s 14th major world titleholder, the largest number from one stable in Japan, when Shokichi Iwata stopped Jairo Noriega in the third round last October. Miss Nagano was not easy on newcomers to boxing, especially those who tried to get into the business without respecting the sport. It did not take much time for me to figure out
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