By Mark Butcher – Boxing Information Editor
NOT since a cinematic Godzilla rose from the oceans has Japan housed a extra broadly admired ‘Monster’.
A world champion for one of the best a part of a decade, the nice Naoya Inoue has etched his identify into his nation’s sporting folklore and spearheaded an thrilling new wave of Japanese expertise.
When the Japan Boxing Affiliation launched a nationwide Underneath-15 championship in 2008 (now known as the Junior Champion League), it sparked a seismic shift within the nation’s combating fortunes with the occasion proving a launchpad for the professional stars of tomorrow.
Inoue was an inaugural winner at that event 16 years in the past and, for these eager eyes watching, it was obvious that Japan had somebody particular, a phenomenon, on their arms.
“I used to be so stunned to see his splendid jab,” Japanese battle aficionado Kazuji Ishida, in attendance, informed me later in 2015. “He was completely uncommon from the opposite fighters of that point. He’s undoubtedly the largest hope in Japanese boxing historical past.”
These previous few phrases proved prophetic with Inoue (27-0, 24 KOs) now the undisputed king at 122lbs and an unbeaten, four-weight champion. Barely lacking a beat, this ice cool combating machine has worn out all opposition at elite stage – 16 KOs in his final 17 world title fights is a merely astonishing statistic.
A part of that unique championship blueprint in 2008, many have adopted Inoue’s pathway to the highest tier. Japan presently boasts seven world title holders – together with all 4 claimants at 118lbs – with solely America (11) and Mexico (8) rating forward. There can be much more Japanese champions however strawweight brothers Ginjiro Shigeoka and Yudai Shigeoka plus four-weight king Kazuto Ioka forfeited their titles in upsets earlier this 12 months.
Japan’s boxing tradition could be very totally different from the established mannequin over right here. There is no such thing as a stat padding. Fighters in Japan don’t shirk challenges or protect their ‘0’ like a protecting Gollum. A loss isn’t seen as a profession obituary if fought in the suitable spirit.
In August 2015, with a nod to legendary film director Akira Kurasawa, I highlighted the ‘Seven Samurai’ of Japanese boxing for Boxing Month-to-month. Again then I mentioned of an 8-0, 7 KOs, Inoue. “The aptly nicknamed ‘Monster’ is arguably one of the best younger fighter in boxing immediately. Inoue ought to have been named the 2014 ‘fighter of the 12 months’ but his crushing win over [Omar] Narvaez occurred on New 12 months’s Eve when Terence Crawford had already been proclaimed by the US media.”
Virtually a decade later and Inoue and Crawford are nonetheless jostling for supremacy, however now within the fictional pound-for-pound checklist.
9 years in the past, I additionally highlighted 4 stars to look at and two are world champions immediately in Takuma Inoue and Kenshiro Teraji. Naoya’s youthful brother Takuma (20-1, 5 KOs) has carved out a creditable profession on his personal phrases. Not blessed with the identical energy as his elder sibling, however skilful and methodical, WBA bantamweight king Takuma has nonetheless turn out to be a stable world champion in his personal proper.
Having received 14 world title fights in two WBC title reigns at light-flyweight, Teraji (23-1, 14 KOs) seeks to turn out to be a two-division champion when he meets Cristofer Rosales for the vacant WBC flyweight belt in Tokyo on October 13. Few would again in opposition to him.
Takuma Inoue of Japan (L) celebrates his victory over Petch Sor Chitpattana of Thailand after their interim WBC bantamweight title boxing bout in Tokyo on December 30, 2018. (Photograph by TOSHIFUMI KITAMURA / AFP) (Photograph credit score ought to learn TOSHIFUMI KITAMURA/AFP by way of Getty Photos)
However Japan’s subsequent huge factor has seemingly already arrived, within the type of three-weight king Junto Nakatani with the WBC bantamweight champion, contemporary off a devastating one-round blowout of Vincent Astrolabio in July, already angling for a conflict with Inoue that might break boxing in Japan. A scene-setting unification with brother Takuma appears extra doubtless first.
Nakatani (28-0, 21 KOs) is a rangy, but aggressive southpaw and the main gentle among the many 4 Japanese champions at bantamweight. He has the star high quality and, crucially dimension at 5ft 8ins, to rise ever increased in weight.
4-division champion Kosei Tanaka (20-1, 11 KOs) remains to be going sturdy at 29 with a WBO title defence in opposition to unbeaten Phumelele Cafu on October 14, the second day of a spectacular, seven world title doubleheader on the Ariake Area in Tokyo. In the future earlier, WBA flyweight champion Seigo Yuri Akui (20-2-1, 11 KOs), who deposed long-reigning champ Artem Dalakian in January, defends his WBA flyweight crown in opposition to Thananchai Charunphak and Shokichi Iwata (13-1, 10 KOs) faces Jairo Noriega for the vacant WBO light-flyweight crown.
Japan’s Kosei Tanaka (L) fights in opposition to Puerto Rico’s Jonathan Gonzalez (R) throughout their WBO flyweight title boxing match in Nagoya on August 24, 2019. (Photograph by JIJI PRESS / JIJI PRESS / AFP) / Japan OUT (Photograph credit score ought to learn JIJI PRESS/AFP by way of Getty Photos)
Victories for the aforementioned Teraji and Iwata might see Japan boasting 10 world champions with the opposite belt holders southpaw bantamweight champions Ryosuke Nishida (IBF) and Yoshiki Takei (WBO). The astutely matched Nishida (9-0, 1 KO) already holds wins over Shohei Omori, Daigo Higa and Emmanuel Rodriguez. The stiff-hitting Takei (9-0, 8 KOs) left kickboxing dominance to dethrone Jason Moloney earlier this 12 months.
There are additionally quite a lot of thrilling prospects following of their wake, together with former kickboxing world champion Tenshin Nasukawa (4-0, 2 KOs) – a extremely common 130lbs southpaw who misplaced that notorious exhibition to a super-sized Floyd Mayweather in 2019 and former world youth champion Yuta Sakai (1-0, 1 KO), additionally primarily based at Inoue’s Ohashi Health club in Yokohama. The towering Sakai, one more standout Japanese southpaw, is barely 19 with room to develop from bantam and past.
When Inoue strikes on, different stars will take his place on this illuminating constellation of expertise with out maybe fairly hitting the identical heights, however as they are saying in Japan, ‘Tomorrow’s winds will blow tomorrow.’
