October 19, 2007	Friday	Shawwal 6, 1428

TOKYO, Oct 18: Japan’s bad-boy boxer Daiki Kameda on Thursday apologised to a world champion for a rough fight after coming under fresh fire for failing to say sorry in public.

The 18-year-old Kameda kicked, choked and repeatedly tackled World Boxing Council flyweight champion Daisuke Naito a week ago in a failed challenge to wrest his title.

Kameda “mustered up the strength” to visit Naito’s home and offered an apology early Thursday, a manager for the Kameda family of boxers said.

Naito, a 33-year-old boxing veteran, accepted the apology.

“I was surprised that he visited me at home suddenly. But I felt his sincerity through his direct apology,” Naito said in a statement.

The closed-door apology came a day after the teenager appeared at a nationally televised news conference but did not say a word and left after two minutes.

Kameda stared at the ground at the press conference as his trainer father, Shiro Kameda, apologised for the Oct 11 fight.

It was a drastically different scene for the famously bad-mouthed teenager, who had called the champion a “roach” before the title match and threatened to kill himself in a samurai-style ritual disembowelment if he lost.—AFP