Hatakeyama shows his limitation?
I think there was a mixed feeling brewing among Japanese boxing fans when they heard the call of a draw in the WBA super featherweight championship bout between Takanori Hatakeyama and Saul Duran on February 13. One was a relief that Japan could keep its only world title. The other was a concern over Hatakeyama's future as a world champion.
There is no doubt that Hatakeyama gallantly came back from the knock down in the 2nd by keeping applying pressure to Duran to gain the drawn decision. It should be highly praised as a boxer who had never experienced a bout to defend a world crown. Hatakeyama, after the knock down, switched his tactics to an "infighting" in order to avoid exchanges of punches at a mid-range. He sensed that he would lose if he kept distance from the experienced Mexican who had dangerous arsenal in his both hands.
As a result, his "instinct" was right. Duran lost his range to throw effective punches. Although Duran deftly defended himself from Hatakeyama's aggression, he failed to gain favor of the judges with the defensive position at the ropes.
The root of the concern is whether or not Hatakeyama is "on the rise." He has stretched his unbeaten record with a high rate of KO, but in recent bouts with "world-class" boxers, he had difficulty to connect sharp punches that can cause a knock down.
In the recent three championship bouts, he could not score any knock down in the total rounds of 36. He had scored 17 KOs out of 19 wins before he challenged the WBA super featherweight crown for the first time in October 1997.
This can be attributed to a difference of the levels of boxers Hatakeyama fought. It is naturally hard for any boxers to score a KO victory over top-rated boxers in the world. However, I can't help feeling that he has come to a "ceiling." It is hard to explain in simple words, but it can be called a "limitation."
At this moment, it is clear that Hatakeyama is no longer a KO puncher. He is scheduled to face another tough opponent Lakva Sim of Mongolia who lost to Yong-Soo Choi over a close decision. This would also be a hard test for Hatakeyama.
It has been reported that Hatakeyama had very hard time in making super featherweight for the bout with Duran. It is no doubt that he has physically developed to exceed the limit of super featherweight. This may have been the reason that he has lost a clear edge over his opponents in speed of body movement and hands. But it is impossible to prove this theory unless he moves to a higher division to win another world title. If this is realized, he can also dissipate my theory of "ceiling." I want to believe that Hatakeyama is still growing as a boxer to be equipped with skills of the world-class.
Written by Akira Matsuda
(2/14/99)