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SPORTS> World Events
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Dinner comes first for Japan's 'Rocky' mum
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-04-17 00:20 TOKYO - Japanese housewife Kazumi Izaki dutifully prepares lunchboxes for her family at the crack of dawn each morning before hitting the gym to take on grown men.
Izaki, who became Japan's oldest professional boxer last year, could soon overtake George Foreman by winning a world title at the age of 46. Unlike Foreman, however, Izaki swaps her boxing gloves for an apron at least twice a day, also cooking dinner for her husband and daughters, aged 22 and 15, before evening training. "I cook dinner every night and then go to the gym about 8," Izaki told Reuters in an interview. "I get up at 5:45 to make the lunchboxes and go to bed about 2:30 in the morning. "I love cooking. I baked a cake before I came to the gym today. I'm doing grilled mackerel with grated radish tonight. I do try to grab a daytime snooze sometimes though." Izaki's future has hung in the balance since earlier this year when the World Boxing Council (WBC) ruled she was too old to fight Mexican Ana Maria Torres, 29, for the world superflyweight (up to 115 lbs; 52.1 kg) crown. "It was a real shock," said Izaki on the balcony of a Tokyo gym. "There were problems over my age when I turned pro last year but we had cleared them so I couldn't believe it." WBC officials pulled the plug on the February 28 fight on health grounds, fearing she could get hurt by the hard-punching Mexican. |
