Katsunari Takayama

PictureCourtesy of http://www.l-kid.com/
Every boxing fan has their favourites and each fan has their reason for preferring one fighter above another. For us one of the reasons we enjoy certain fighters is their desire to prove they are the best and their willingness to fight on the road, against the best and attempt prove their talent with out needing home comforts to help them. We've all seen too many fighters defending at home and show an unwillingness to fight the best.

One fighter who has bucked the trend however is Japanese fighter Katsunari Takayama (30-8-0-1, 12) [高山 勝成 ] who has faced 4 of the truly elite fighters in his division since turning professional and has been willing to travel to Mexico, South Africa and the Philippines for his biggest fights. In fact Katsunari has gone so far as to not just fight away from home but, at one point, handed in his JBC license to chase his own personal dream.

Born in Osaka in 1983 Takayama first became interested in boxing when he was taken, by a friend, to a boxing gym. From then on he was bitten by the boxing bug which has inspired him to what is genuinely a great career.

Takayama, AKA "The Lighting Kid", made his professional debut in 2000 aged just 17 and made an impressive start to his pro career by stopping fellow debutant Yozo Nakamura in 4 rounds.

Having made an impressive debut with his victory over Nakamura, Katsunari really built his career up in a very impressive 2001. The year, which saw him fighting 6 times, saw Takayama winning the West Rookie of the Year in the Light Flyweight division in September before moving on to win the All-Japanese Rookie of the Year in December with an impressive victory over then then 5-0 Koyo Yamazaki. This saw Takayama ending the year 7-0 (3) and being viewed as a man to keep a serious eye on.

Having announced himself on the domestic stage with his Rookie of the Year title expectations on Takayama's careers quickly grew and in his first bout of 2002 he earned a Japanese ranking as he stopped Daisaku Kashiwagi. By now it was beginning to look likely that Takayama would one day move on to a title fight of some sort, though of course he was a long way from being ready for a fight at title level.

Unfortunately just as Takayama seemed headed towards his first major fight he damaged his shoulder. Despite the fact he managed to stop Takashi Okajima and move to 9-0 (5) he was going to have to slow his career down to let his shoulder recover. This injury unfortunately saw Takayama drop out of a major fight with a world ranked Filipino. The injury thankfully turned out not to be as serious as feared and didn't keep Takayama out for long and just months after the Okajima fight Takyama managed to defeat former WBA interim Minimumweight champion Songkram Porpaoin of Thailand. Whilst that was the final bout of Songkram's career it was still a major victory for the then 19 year old Takayama who seemed like a man with real world level potential.
Sadly for Takayama the victory over Songkram seemed to over-inflate the youngster's ego. This saw him fighting like he was invincible as he took on Masato Hatakeyama for the Japanese Minimumweight title and was unfortunately stopped in the 9th round despite being ahead on the scorecards. This was, on paper, an awful loss for Takayama though looking back it seems like the loss was a humbling experience that really saw Takayama maturing almost instantly and learning that he wasn't invincible and that he could be hurt and beat if got reckless.

The loss to Hatakeyama was quickly put behind Takayama as he run up 4 victories in 20 months and swiftly moved into the world rankings. The ranking opened up the door to a world title fight with then WBC champion Isaac Bustos, and Takayama, having really grown from his loss to Hatakeyama, showed what he could do by taking a clear decision over the champion.

Unfortunately for Takayama his reign lasted just 4 months before he lost the belt, in his first defense to the excellent Eagle Den Junlaphan. The loss to Eagle Den, who had himself lost the title to Bustos, was a close decision and although 1 judge had it a near shut out it really was a competitive fight that showed that Takayama belong on the world scene despite only being 21 years old.

Just 7 months after his loss to Eagle Den we saw Takayama claim his second title, the Japanese national title as he defeated Satoshi Kogumazaka via a 9th round technical decision. Despite winning the Japanese title Takayama wouldn't actually defend it, instead he chose to chase the WBA world title. Unfortunately after Takayama had given up the Japanese belt the WBA champion Yutaka Niida forcing a delay to that bout. Despite the injury to Niida we saw Takayama remain busy as he defeated Carlos Melo for the WBA interim title.

When Niida returned from injury the bout between himself and Takayama was finally re-arranged though unfortunately for Takayama he found himself on the rough end of a close split decision, despite having scored a knockdown in the first 20 seconds of the contest. The fight was thrilling from the off though unfortunately the decision did leave a bad taste in the mouth of Takayama who may well have thought that judges just disliked him.

Following the loss to Niida we saw Takayama drop down a level and he strong together a serious of lesser wins over the likes of Ngaoprajan Chuwatana, the then Thai champion. It was a case of treading water and waiting for another title fight for Takayama who was proven to be a worthy competitor but also not a man many, if any, champion wanted to take on.

Thankfully for Takayama he got another world title chance in just 2009, though he was unfortunate to run into Nicaraguan Roman Gonzalez. Gonzalez, a serious force in boxing, was the then WBA Minimumweight champion and widely regarded as the best fighter in the division. He, Gonzalez, had stopped Niida for the title and was making the second defense against Takayama. Although Takayama put up a good fight he was out worked, out boxed, cut and decisioned in what was a thrilling but one-sided contest between a very good fighter and an amazing one.

It seemed likely that Takayama, after losses in 3 title fights, was going to have to really work for another fight, despite the fact he had been competitive in bouts with Eagle Den, Niida and Gonzalez. Instead however Takayama retired from the sport in desperate need of a break to allow his body and mind to recover from a hard career.

Thankfully, after taking a break from action and the gym, Takayama returned to the sport and immediately returned to the world level as he handed in his JBC license, set up camp in the Philippines and set his aim on the IBF title.

In his first fight since his self imposed exile from the sport Takayama went to South Africa, the home of the then reigning IBF champion Nkosinathi Joyi. To get to Joy, Takayama had to earn the right to fight for the IBF title and that's exactly what he did as he stopped Tshepo Lefele in 6 rounds in an IBF eliminator. Having earned his chance to fight Joyi, Takayama saw his efforts almost go to waste as he damaged his hand in the opening round before a clash of heads in round 3 called a premature ending to the contest and resulted in a No-Contest.

After several delays Takayama finally got a rematch with Joyi and gave his all in an unfortunately wide scored decision loss. Both men had looked rusty in a competitive bout though the judges, with some home bias, had felt Joyi was a clear and dominant winner in what was genuine an intriguing contest.

Rather than walk away Takayama continued his pursuit for the IBF title and went back to the Philippines where he lost a very controversial decision to Mateo Handig in an IBF eliminator. Despite the "loss" to Handig, Takayama got a fight with the newly crowned IBF champion Mario Rodriguez who had scored a major upset over Joyi. This time around Takayama wasn't to be denied and despite being dropped in round 3 he fought back hard and clearly out pointed Rodriguez, in Mexico, for the title.

With the victory over Rodriguez, Takayama had become just the second ever IBF champion from Japan, following in the footsteps of Satoshi Shingaki.

Having worked so hard for the title Takayama was never going to let it to easily and in his first defense he returned home given a new JBC license, and fought in Japan for the first tine since his loss to Roman Gonzalez. Determined and experienced Takayama used all of his qualities to clearly out point Filipino challenger Vergilio Silvano in his first IBF title defense. He has since defended his title once more out pointing fellow Japanese fighter Shin Ono, twice dropping Ono, to take home the victory.

Unfortunately Takayama failed in his attempt to unify the IBF title with the WBO when he lost a very hard fought contest to Mexico's very good Francisco Rodriguez Jr in a bout many are calling the best fight of 2014. The bout was an amazing battle between two men who had very differing assets but each world class ability. We're hoping a rematch can be staged but with the damage they inflicted on each other it could be a long wait until we see either man back in the ring.

Although the loss to Rodriguez Jr was a bad one for Takayama he did manage to win the WBO, and IBF, titles at the end of 2014 when he stopped Go Odaira in a bout for both titles. This saw him becoming the first Japanese fighter to become a "Grandslam" champion. Unfortunately Takayama's reign as unified champion didn't last long as he swiftly vacated the WBO title. He did however keep the IBF belt which he controversially retained with a technical decision win against Fahlan Sakkreerin Jr. The bout was ended due to a cut on Takayama that appeared to have come from a puncher though was later ruled to have been from a clash of heads.

Takayama would return to the ring after a letting his cuts heal and took on countryman Ryuji Hara, with Hara being stopped in 8 by Takayama, who seemed to make a statement and move towards a unification bout with the then WBO champion Kosei Tanaka. Sadly however that bout never came to fruition with Takayama unfortunately losing the title at the very end of 2016, suffering a technical decision loss to the tough and aggressive Jose Argumedo.

Following the loss to Argumedo we say Takayama took a long break away from the ring but he then indicated that he wanted to continue his career and we now know he will return in a bout for the WBO title against teenager Riku Kano.

As well as his skills he also has an excellent relationship with trainer Hiroaki Nakade who was, in 2013, was award the Eddie Townsend award for being the best trainer in Japan, a very honour indeed. The relationship between Takayama and Nakade is one that has been developing since Takayama was just a child and, like Manny Pacquiao's relationship with Freddie Roach, it's hard to see Takayama ever fighting with out Nakade in his corner.