Japanese Heavyweight Title
When we talk about boxing's ribbon division we tend to think of the greats such as Muhammad Ali, George Foreman, Mike Tyson and Joe Louis. One thing we don't usually talk about is Asian Heavyweights, in fact the only one of note has been Ruslan Chagaev, the Uzbekistan Heavyweight who claimed the WBA title back in 2007.
The lack of "big Asians" has been the reason for so little interest in the division by fighters through not just Western Asia but also the Orient and this has result in a very thin history for the Japanese Heavyweight title which has seen just 2 title holders in it's history.
The first champion, back in 1957, was Noburu Kataoka. Kataoka was the inaugural champion after he beat Yutaka Nakagoshi in what was the 4th meeting between the two men in less than 3 months. The following year the JBC retired the belt citing a lack of competition.
The belt would remain retired for more than 50 years before the emergence of Kyotaro Fujimoto who defeated Japanese based Ugandan Okello Peter for to become the second ever Japanese Heavyweight champion. Later the same year Fujimoto became the first Japanese Heavyweight champion to defend his belt as he narrowly scraped past Kotatsu Takehara.
In the last 12 months the division has seen a big shift in interest. This is partly because of Fujimoto but also the fact that Nobuhiro Ishida has began campaigning as a Heavyweight and has set his focus on winning the title in a story that has managed to generate mass interest from fans around the world. Hopefully this interest will spur on competition and we'll see a growth of the division could see fighters form other sports, for example judo, attempting to become boxers and adding depth to the weight class.
Title fight history
May 4th 1957-Noburu Kataoka (UD10 Yutaka Nakagoshi)-Kataoka becomes Inaugural champion
July 25th 2013-Kyotaro Fujimoto (TKO6 Okello Peter)-Fujimoto wins vacant title
November 25th 2013-Kyotaro Fujimoto (UD10 Kotatsu Takehara)-Fujimoto defends title for the first time
(Image, of Fujimoto, courtesy of http://www.kadoebi.com)
The lack of "big Asians" has been the reason for so little interest in the division by fighters through not just Western Asia but also the Orient and this has result in a very thin history for the Japanese Heavyweight title which has seen just 2 title holders in it's history.
The first champion, back in 1957, was Noburu Kataoka. Kataoka was the inaugural champion after he beat Yutaka Nakagoshi in what was the 4th meeting between the two men in less than 3 months. The following year the JBC retired the belt citing a lack of competition.
The belt would remain retired for more than 50 years before the emergence of Kyotaro Fujimoto who defeated Japanese based Ugandan Okello Peter for to become the second ever Japanese Heavyweight champion. Later the same year Fujimoto became the first Japanese Heavyweight champion to defend his belt as he narrowly scraped past Kotatsu Takehara.
In the last 12 months the division has seen a big shift in interest. This is partly because of Fujimoto but also the fact that Nobuhiro Ishida has began campaigning as a Heavyweight and has set his focus on winning the title in a story that has managed to generate mass interest from fans around the world. Hopefully this interest will spur on competition and we'll see a growth of the division could see fighters form other sports, for example judo, attempting to become boxers and adding depth to the weight class.
Title fight history
May 4th 1957-Noburu Kataoka (UD10 Yutaka Nakagoshi)-Kataoka becomes Inaugural champion
July 25th 2013-Kyotaro Fujimoto (TKO6 Okello Peter)-Fujimoto wins vacant title
November 25th 2013-Kyotaro Fujimoto (UD10 Kotatsu Takehara)-Fujimoto defends title for the first time
(Image, of Fujimoto, courtesy of http://www.kadoebi.com)
