DAIGO NAKAHIRO vs HIDENOBU HONDA

With two big fights on the same show on Friday Night Fights and a likely war between cruiserweights Huck and Ramirez on Saturday, there is plenty to get excited about for fans in the U.S. and Europe this weekend. In Japan, meanwhile, two former world title challengers meet in Hiroshima when local fighter Daigo Nakahiro defends his Japanese super flyweight title against Hidenobu Honda on Saturday.

When I first looked at this fight I must admit I thought it would be a fairly comfortable win for Nakahiro. He is the younger man by five years, he is on a nice winning run and he is fighting at home. After a closer look, though, I am not convinced this is a sure thing for Nakahiro by any means.

Nakahiro, 28, has been described as Japan’s cleverest fighter in terms of academic achievement because he graduated from university in Hiroshima with a master’s degree. He has lost only twice in 22 bouts — a split decision against current WBC flyweight champion Daisuke Naito and a widely scored loss on points in a world title challenge against Pongsaklek in Thailand, a fight that came at least a year too soon.

I was able to see Nakahiro’s last two fights, when he won and then successfully defended the Japanese 115-pound title. He looked relaxed in the ring, punched with good form and had a spirited look about him — in his close win over Junichiro Sugita I made the note that Nakahiro seemed to be enjoying the fight, banging his gloves together in the “Let’s get to it!” manner after some heated exchanges.

Honda, however, is not a pushover. The 33-year-old southpaw has considerable experience, including world title challenges against Pongsaklek and heavy hitter Alexander Munoz, who both outpointed him. He looked like a fighter at the end of his career when he was worn down and stopped in seven round by Sasha Bakhtin in April of last year, but the undefeated Russian was just too big and strong for him in a bout for the Japanese bantam title.

Honda has come back with two wins, and he had a good result in his last fight when he defeated the Thai, Norasing. Although Norasing had 12 losses on his record, he isn’t a pushover — last year he lost by split decision in an Orient and Pacific title bout against Konoskuke Tokiyama — a bout that was essentially level.

The win over Norasing indicates to me that Honda still has ambition and is making a determined effort to reclaim glory in his homeland.

Honda, at his best, can be a slippery, difficult-to-fight counter puncher. He is a southpaw, and he was used as a sparring partner by Marco Antonio Barrera when the Mexican fighter was preparing for his bout with Naseem Hamed. Nakahiro stopped a southpaw named Masayuki Arinaga, but Arinaga is a slugger type who came on to his punches. It did seem that Nakahiro struggled in the early rounds against a Filipino switch-hitter named Flash Villacuna, although he came on to win in the fifth, and he was apparently very unimpressive in a unanimous but close and debatable win over a boxer named Kenji Yoshida, who had lost seven of his 20 fights, so there have been a couple of shaky performances among Nakahiro’s victories.

On home ground in Hiroshima, one would think that Nakahiro will be motivated to give a topnotch performance. He is the WBC’s fourth-ranked super flyweight contender and it would be a surprise if he loses to the veteran Honda. Yet Honda is a tricky type with a wealth of top-level experience, and he obviously doesn’t see himself as being at the end of the road.

There are frequent upsets in all-Japanese fights, with underdogs fighting above anything they have shown before when a national title is at stake. I think that Nakahiro should be too speedy and too busy for Honda, and I see this as Nakahiro’s fight to lose, but he needs to be at his best.