Japan Broadens Boxing Horizon, Crowns First IBO World Champion
By Teodoro Medina Reynoso
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 05 Jan 2025
Takayama wins the IBO minimumweight world championship belt.
Two weeks before the new year, 2025, Japan apparently turned a new leaf that broadens its international professional boxing horizon.
This after it crowned or allowed the coronation of its first world boxing champion in the person of former many times world titlist Katsunari Takayama as recognized by the International Boxing Organization in a title bout held in the Philippines. Yes you read it right, in the Philippines.
Last December 18, 2024 in the card promoted by Jean Claude Manangquil in General Santos City, Takayama dueled with China's Kha Lu and won by 12 round decision to win the IBO minimumweight championship.
This is or could be another sign of Japan's resolve to vie for sunder boxing titles of significance as it has indicated in fighting for international and regional titles of the İBF and the WBO starting in 2024.
Previous to this, Japan has only allowed Japanese fighters to contest for the world championship of the so called big four-the WBA, WBC, IBF and the WBO.
What has happened to boxing in Japan can be likened to its opening up to the world, though forcibly by American navy fleet commander Commodore Perry in the early 19th century. Had Perry lived through the 1920s and 1930s; he would have marveled at the transformation of Japan into a world industrial and military power.
But boxing in Japan really started the great transformation it is enjoying today when it heeded the three points prescription of Ring Magazine's Douglas Fischer in 2013, namely:
1. That it recognises the IBF and the WBO,
2 That Japanese world champions fight each other, and
3. Japanese fighters fight more often outside of Japan.
Fischer has been marveling at the great progress made by Japan since. Proof positive has been the emergence of Naoya Inoue, Japan's two divisions undisputed world champion and among the world's top three best pound for pound fighters for years now. And Japan producing more than a baker's dozen current and former major world boxing champions that included Takayama himself. Japanese fighters hold all the major belts at bantamweight and half of the world trinkets at flyweight and once in the minimumweight.
This year, Inoue is projected to defend his undisputed world super bantamweight title against fellow Japanese, reigning WBC bantamweight king Junto Nakatani in what is believed to be the biggest all Japanese world title fight in history. How big is that fight? This early, major networks have expressed their desire to carry the bout in their various media platforms
With a Japanese now holding a IBO belt, perhaps we will see how how a world title, no matter "minor" as generally perceived, ought to be given importance by the holder country.
The IBO world belts have been in existence for years. In fact, if memory serves, Manny Pacquiao fought for IBO belts twice, once against Marco Antonio Barrera in 2004 and once against Ricky Hatton in 2009. The IBO belts he won may had been belittled even in his country but the world knew he was the real lineal world champion. Just this December, the IBO heavyweight belt was also at stake in the fight between Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury.
The Philippines has at least three times in the recent years won IBO world championships through Edrin Dapudong, Michael Dasmariñas and recently, Dave Apolinario. But we frittered them away as no one among the three had even a title defense, either here or abroad. Dasmariñas and Apolinario however parlayed their status into leading contenders in failed major world title tries.
In the final analysis, the significance of an IBO world title is really in the eyes of the beltholders and their supporters
This may be a lesson we will soon learn with a Japanese being crowned as IBO world champion.
The author Teodoro Medina Reynoso is a veteran boxing radio talk show host living in the Philippines. He can be reached at teddyreynoso@yahoo.com and by phone 09215309477.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Teodoro Medina Reynoso.
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