Japanese boxing great Takashi Uchiyama looked motivated on Wednesday as he made his final preparations to defend his WBA super featherweight belt for the 11th time against Nicaragua's Oliver Flores at Ota General City Gymnasium on Thursday.
One of the major reasons for this is because he'll step into the ring in better shape than he has in recent years.
The hard-punching right-hander has been plagued by hand and elbow problems due to his own heavy striking. But his gym’s president, Hitoshi Watanabe, said Uchiyama will fight injury-free for the first time in about five years.