While the Kameda brothers (Koki, Tomoki, and Daiki), Hozumi Hasegawa, and Takefumi Sakata have been among the more recent vintage in the resurgence of Japanese boxing, two in particular have exploded onto the scene like meteorites.
They are 21 year-old Naoya ?Monster? Inoue (8-0) who has done remarkable and uncommon things in multiple weight divisions in just the year 2014, and Kazuto Ioka (17-1) who is a former unified Miniumweight champion holding the WBA and WBC titles and also a former WBA Light flyweight champion, therefore becoming a two-division World champion. Inoue?s recent dismantling of Argentina?s crafty Omar Narvaez signals that the passing of the torch has begun
Ioka, for his part, recently beat another tough Argentinian, Juan Carlos Reveco (35-1,) to win the WBA World flyweight title
Inoue?s younger brother, 19-year-old Takuma, is 4-0 against stiff opposition and will fight Mark Anthony Geraldo for the vacant OPBF super flyweight title on July 6, 2015.
Others
Also noteworthy are flyweight Ryo Miyazaki (23-1-3), super flyweight Ryo Matsumoto (14-0),WBC World bantamweight champion Shinsuke Yamanaka (23-0-2), WBA World super featherweight Champion, junior lightweight Takashi Uchiyama (23-0-1),, junior flyweight Ryoichi Taguchi (22-2-1), and strawweight Katsunari Takayama (29-7).
Even in defeat, Hisashi Amagasa (28-5-2) gave Guillermo Rigondeaux a stern test in Osaka, Japan dropping the undefeated Cuban twice before succumbing late in the fight. A far more fan-friendly Rigondeaux kept his belt in what he thought would be a ?stay busy? contest. In fact, most felt it would be a mismatch. Amagasa proved otherwise.
Tanaka
“I want to continue fighting tough opponents.”–Kosei Tanaka
The latest prodigy made his made his mark on May 30 when Kosei Tanaka broke the record of Naoya Inoue, who won the WBC junior flyweight title in April 2014 in only his sixth pro fight. The 19-year-old Tanaka (5-0, 2 KOs), from Nagoya, decisioned Mexican Julian Yedras (24-2, 13 KOs), to win the vacant WBO miniumweight title vacated by Katsunari Takayama earlier this year.
Tanaka is a four-time national high school champion with a 46-5 (18 KO?s) record. He made his professional debut last November and defeated Oscar Raknafa (12-5, 5 KO?s) by a shut-out over six rounds. Raknafa was ranked the number six minimum-weight by the WBO at the time, and the holder of the WBO?s Asia-Pacific title.
While it is relatively rare for Japanese fighters to toil outside of their homeland, potential mega-fights involving the likes of Roman Gonzalez may force the issue. A Gonzalez-Inoue face-off has the potential of being one of the greatest fights in flyweight history.
Meanwhile, Ioka, the two Inoue?s and Tanaka continue to distinguish themselves by displaying ring maturity beyond their years and by fighting the stiffest opposition willing to travel to Japan.
