Bad Left Hook, Global Boxing News and Commentary

Daisuke Naito successfully defended his title against Xiong Zhaozhong, the first Chinese boxer to fight for a world title. Xiong appears to have acquitted himself better than expected, knocking down Naito in the sixth, and keeping the scores close (114-110, 114-111, 113-111). Naito's a gritty fighter, but it surprises me that he's defended his title as many times as he has. Xiong was 12-1-1 coming into the fight, without much of an amateur background, and only had one victory over a fighter with a winning record. He does have an interesting back story though, growing up on a farm in rural China, moving to Shanghai to take up boxing. Hopefully, he can contiunue to improve and we'll get to see more of him.

According to a report on Japanese site Sportsnavi, the venue for the May 26th bout between WBC Flyweight Champion Daisuke Naito and Chinese challenger Xiong Zhao Zhong has been moved from Shanghai to Tokyo on less than a week's notice due to vague "problems which cannot be cleared." This certainly takes some of the shine off the fight - Zhong is the first Chinese boxer to challenge for a world title, and it would have been nice for him to fight in front of his countrymen. Now he's just an outmatched challenger trying to take the belt on the champ's home turf.