as there are sports magazines that are used for telling the news of a particular sport , there are some of them for boxing too . monthly boxing is a famous one which is popular among boxing fans in japan for the professional point of view of writers .
kawamoto san is one of the veteran writers for the magazine and it's his policy to interview the boxers he recognizes strong or with potential and write articles about them. nowadays , he has set his eyes on a new gym or it will be right to say ' a new star of Japan featherweight division ' . well of course the said star is our mc yamamoto ken .
today , ken is checking his form before the big mirror inside the gym before resuming his practice when a visitor comes to ito boxing gym . he looks like a dandy middle aged man and is playing with a pen with his right hand .
he introduces himself as kawamoto , writer for monthly boxing magazine and hands his business card to bonda San. bonda san agrees to his request to interview ken personally and calls ken near the main door ..
" ken kun , this is kawamoto san of monthly boxing magazine. he is a well known writer for the magazine and wants to interview you . can you spare some time ? " bonda san looks like he is asking politely but knows that he wont take no for an answer as he loves when boxer from our gym is on a magazine or newspaper ..
" its alright. I will be done with today's training after 3 rounds of Mitt training with kou San. can you wait for some minutes kawamoto San? " ken asks with a smile ..
" it's totally fine with me " kawamoto san replies with an understanding look .
so ken goes inside the ring and starts his training session with kou San immediately..
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after 20 minutes passed, ken and kawamoto San are sitting on a bench inside the local park which is just 3 minutes walk from the gym .
" sorry ken kun for taking your time . I should have gotten an appointment first before coming to the gym "
" no no ... it's totally fine . well not many writers have shown their face in our gym after ren San was forced to retire a while ago anyway .. "
" the former middleweight champion ito ren , huh . well it's a huge loss for our country's boxing .. "
" well enough with the depressing talk now . so it's your time now kawamoto San. ask away your questions then "
" okay . first tell me your confidence about winning your title match next month "
" hmm.. I like your straightforward attitude so i will be honest with you then . you can say that I'm pretty confident that i can beat goto san "
" eh.. really honest . why do you think so then ? "
" well he is an easy target for counter punchers like me . even though he is an all rounder and a veteran, just these things are not enough to defeat me . you can say that I was an all rounder myself before so I am pretty confident that he wont be able to hit me easily during our match ."
" okay okay . ken kun , I saw you practice for a while now . were you checking your form in front the mirror that time? "
" yes . you see experienced boxers pay attention to the form of their opponent and guess the incoming punch beforehand. so I have practiced my basic punch forms to a level that there are no waste movements . it means that my opponents cannot anticipate my next punch with just that and I possess that small advantage over them . well all strong world rankers have achieved this much so its nothing special anyway .."
" oh.. so it's like that . then tell me the boxer in your division that you find difficult to beat in japan right now "
" in japan ? welll honestly there is no one like that right now ."
" really ? I think that yoshida kun will become strong the next time you fight him . what do you think about his strength behind each punch ?"
" yoshida, huh . I dont fear him or his potential right now. it's simple, a high level fight between boxers isn't just about power and technique . those are just absolutely necessary and on top of that feints, reading the expression of the opponent , skill to use the width of ring skillfully etc . many of these factors become important . it will take a lot of time for yoshida to get to that level ."
" that's true . so you aren't afraid of power that much? "
" yes . power punchers can be found anywhere in the world so I cant be afraid of them now. besides boxing is all about technique , power , skills , stamina etc . power is just one part of it."
" yes you're right . I never thought about it this way before .."
" well you are just watching the boxing of japan all the time . here even a hard puncher is too rare while they can still be found with some effort in the world . take me for an example , I'm just an average talented boxer with average power , average speed . there are many ways to win , you just have to find your own "
" okay , that's all for today . thank you ken kun . it looks like I can write a good article that I'm satisfied with after a long time ."
" it's my pleasure. you are always welcome in the ito boxing gym kawamoto san. there is no need for an appointment or anything . well for me at least .. I'm looking forward to your article then ."
" yes . you will be able to read it in the day after tomorrow edition of monthly boxing . see you next time then ken kun ."
" yes . see you "
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