The latest classic boxer to return to the Wii version of Punch-Out!! will be Tokyo, Japan born and bred Piston Honda. Or at least a close approximation of Piston, as Nintendo has changed his name.
The return of the Japanese pugilist, who first (and last) appeared in the NES version of Punch-Out!! comes with a slight concession. Nintendo has changed his family name from Honda to Hondo. When we asked Nintendo earlier this week about the change, it opted not to comment on the grounds that the character hadn't yet been officially announced.
Now that he has, we've asked again. Our best guess is that, despite Honda being a not uncommon family name in Japan, Nintendo didn't want to step on the copyright established by the car maker of the same name. Which seems like a wise thing to do.
Now if they'll just listen to our petition for a reversal of Soda Popinski's name to the original Vodka Drunkenski, we'll be happy.