Munroe arrives in Japan ahead of world title assault

Boxing binman Rendall Munroe has touched down in Japan ahead of his WBC super-bantamweight title challenge to Toshiaki Nishioka in Tokyo on Sunday October 24. The challenger from Leicester will provide onlookers with their first insight into his potential threat to Nishioka’s world crown when he conducts an open training session in the Japanese capital tomorrow.

The quietly confident Munroe is thought to have enjoyed an excellent training camp which has included a stint of altitude training in Portugal which his team, headed by manager Mike Shinfield and promoter Frank Maloney, hope will enable Munroe to adjust to the Japanese climate with 11 days still to go before fight time. In the build-up, Rendall will train in a Tokyo gym 15 minutes from his base to stay sharp ahead of his world title bid.

"Rendall's had some terrific sparring over the last couple of weeks, so everything is ready. We expect that travelling that distance he will lose a bit of weight, but we aren't 100 per cent sure how the journey and the time difference will affect him,” Shinfield told the Leicester Mercury.

Munroe, who weighed just a pound over the 8st 10lbs super-bantamweight championship limit yesterday, has been accompanied to Tokyo by his conditioning coach Hardip Singh who will maintain a close eye on the Leicester fighter's diet.

"I've taken boxers abroad before, though not to Japan. The climate is different, the food is different, everything is different. It can be difficult. But Rendall is as ready as he can possibly be at this stage. His job when he gets in the ring is to keep away from Nishioka's big left hand and fight his own fight. We're hoping that everything he has been working on in the gym and in Portugal comes good on the night and he flies home with the belt,” added Shinfield