How far will the recent wave of Japanese amateurs go?

3/14/2024

One of the most overlooked things about Olympic years is the talented that doesn’t make it to the games, and instead turn professional without the fanfare of appearing at the Olympics, despite being stellar amateurs. In 2012 we saw it with Naoya Inoue and now, 12 years on, we appear to be seeing it en masse with a host of top Japanese amateurs all signing professional contracts and announcing that they were looking to make their mark on the professional ranks. Whilst not all of them will make it to the top, a lot of them will make a major impact in the pro ranks, and it would be no surprise to see all of the recently turned professionals make a mark and win titles before they hang up the gloves for good.

In just over a week 8 different notable Japanese amateurs took part in press conferences to announce either their debut or to announce they had signed professional contracts, as it became clear promoters, one in particular, had gone on a signing spree for talented fighters ready to begin their professional campaigns. We’ll now take a look at the 8 men in question, and see if we can predict how far they’ll go

Yuta Sakai [坂井優太]
The first of the 8 fighters in question was Yuta Sakai, who was at a press conference on March 7th to announce that he had signed with Ohashi. Aged just 18 Sakai is incredibly young, but is a genuine prodigy, much like several of the other fighters at the Ohashi gym including two we’ll speak about a little later. As an amateur Sakai was incredible, running up a reported 47-1 record, winning the World Youth Championship in 2022 and winning a host of national titles. Unlike some fighters we’re going to talk about, he didn't set himself any targets when he was at the press conference to announce his decision to turn professional, but it’s very clear from his background that he has to be expected to make a mark on the world scene. Trained by his father, Nobukatsu, along with Yasuhiro Suzuki, Sakai is something of a pure boxer, who uses range, movement, speed and timing to hit and not get hit. As an amateur his control of distance is great, his timing is excellent and his speed is blistering. There is however work to be done on his power, and Suzuki will be looking to teach Sakai to sit on his shots.

Set to make his debut at either Super Flyweight or Bantamweight we don’t think Sakai will be fast tracked, afterall he’s only 18 and the two divisions he’s fighting at are deep in Japan, however within 3 or 4 years we would expect him to be fighting for domestic and regional titles, and potentially making a mark on the fringes of world rankings. If he develops how we expect he will, down the line, go on to win world titles, but they are a long, long way off for the talented youngster.

Issei Aramoto [荒本一成]
Just 5 days after Sakai’s announcement we had another press conference featuring 4 notable amateurs, who had either just signed their professional papers, or just announced their debuts. The most notable of these was 24 year old Issei Aramoto, who went 85-7 (37) as an amateur, winning a host of national titles, as well as claiming medals at two regional competitions, the Asian Youth and Asian Junior championships. Aramoto missed out on a place at the 2024 Olympics and instead of waiting around he has signed with Teiken who will look to guide him to become the third Japanese world champion at Middleweight. Given the relative lack of talent domestically he’ll be fast tracked through the Japanese and Asian ranks, though it will clearly be much, much tougher for him to break out at world level.

In the ring Aramoto is a strong, though somewhat basic, fighter, with a good jab, good speed and good movement, but a style that in some ways didn’t really seem built for success as the top level of the amateur ranks. There’s a lot to like about him, but we can’t help watching his amateur fights and thinking he’d be a better professional, especially with the longer distance, and a chance to really break fighters down with his body shots up close. As a fighter he’s a work in progress, but he’s got a lot to like about him. We’d be surprised if he wins a world title, but we definitely wouldn’t be surprised to see him on the fringes of the world rankings one day.

Hiroki Horiike [堀池空希]
Aged 22 Hiroki Horiike is an easy man to overlook, especially when he went 21-5 (7) as an amateur, and he was overshadowed by Aramoto when the two were at the same press conference. Despite that he is tipped for big things following a great run at the All Japan championships last year. His amateur pedigree isn’t the strongest but he is full of confidence and has spoken about racing to win titles. In the ring he's an aggressive and strong fighter, who lacks polish, but had success in his short amateur based on his physical tools and quick learning. If he continues to develop as he did as an amateur, he does have the potential to make a mark at a high level.

Sadly for Horiike his issue is likely to be the division he’s fighting at, and he’s going to be competing in, and around, the 140lb weight class, a class that Japanese fighters typically don’t fair well at. With that in mind we don’t see Horiike reaching world level, but we’d be very surprised if he didn’t pick up regional and national titles before his career is over. Potentially even over multiple weight classes. He is going to be a work in progress, but we don’t expect him to have many easy fights. Instead we suspect he’ll be matched tough early, allowed to develop quickly, and then makes a mark on the title scene in Japan and Asia.

Reito Takahashi [髙橋麗斗]
Another man fighting at a higher weight for a Japanese fighter is Reito Takahashi, another 22 year old. Takahashi has an extensive amateur background, going 60-10 (12) and showed what he could do on the domestic and international scene, winning a bronze medal at the 2019 Asian Youth Championships. As an amateur he fought at Light Welterweight, and like Horiike, we suspect he’ll be making his early mark as a professional at, or around, 140lbs. Again, it’s a weight class where Japanese fighters don’t typically make a splash at a higher level, but Takahashi could well be the exception, and from the amateur credentials he does seem to have a higher ceiling than Horiike.

In the ring Takahashi is a pure boxer, with an excellent jab, solid defense and good counter punching. He understands range really well, has good defense and great timing, often letting opponents make mistakes and making them pay. His style will need some work as he adapts to the professional ranks, but there is no doubting his potential, his tools, his ring craft and his boxing brain. The one thing that could hold him back is the fact he’s not signed with a major promotional player, but given how his promoter does work closely with several others, this may not be a major problem.

Sento Ito [伊藤千飛]
The youngest of the men who took part in the press conference on the 12th was Sento Ito, an 18 year old who could well be the most under-rated of the fighters to recently turn over. As an amateur he went a very impressive 20-1 (7) as an amateur with his only loss coming in the 2023 Asian Youth Championships, where he claimed a bronze medal. Despite being 18 he doesn’t a lot of amateur experience, but that’s partly due to the fact that before boxing he was a kick boxer, and holds two kickboxing wins over Tenshin Nasukawa’s younger brother. In the ring he’s a a fast handed fighter, who has power in both hands, good movement and can box off the back foot. Defensively there is some work to be done, though we suspect that will come with gym time, good sparring and a trainer who tightens things up. Given his quickness he does get away with some of his mistakes, but we suspect his team will want to do what they can to limit the errors.

Fighting at Flyweight he’s in a tough division domestically, but if he can break through the domestic scene then he has a very, very high ceiling. Given his age, his success in such a short amateur career, his combat sport background, and his speed there is real potential here, but he, and his team, have got take their time. They really can’t rush him, and instead need to give him time to develop, to mature, to grow into his body and to develop the defensive skills to reach his potential

Sora Tanaka [田中空]
Just a day after the press conference announcing the previous 4 men we saw Ohashi raise the stakes again announcing two more major signings to their ever growing super-stable of fighters. Arguably the more notable of those was Sora Tanaka, a 22 year old dubbed the "Tyson of Yokohama", who went 58-8 (39) in the unpaid ranks. Sora Tanaka is a third general fighter, who has been a fixture on the Japanese amateur scene for years, and fans have been able to see him progress from winning High School titles, a World University Championship medal and an All Japan title.

Fighting at Welterweight Tanaka does lack in terms of height, standing at around 5’5”, but very much lives up to the “Tyson” moniker, with an incredibly fan friendly style that’s built around intense pressure, getting inside and letting his hands go. Although he is short he is thick, stocky, powerful, with heavy hands, explosive combinations and brutal hooks. He struggled early on in his amateur days, struggling to pin fighters down, but when he settled on the Tyson-esque style, he found success. The real question on how far he’ll go, is hard to say, though we do feel he’ll need to tighten up defensively if he’s going to reach his potential.

Shogo Tanaka [田中将吾]
The other major signing on March 13th for the Ohashi gym was Shogo Tanaka, who’s not related to Sora Tanaka despite the shared family name. Shogo Tanaka was a dominant force on the domestic stage winning numerous domestic titles whilst going 60-5 (21). He was a genuinely heavy handed fighter in the unpaid ranks and one of the stand out fighters in the lower weight classes, making his mark at Bantamweight in the High School and University scene. He made it clear he aims to win regional and Japanese titles before going to world level, and given his skills, power, amateur pedigree, ambition and the team behind him, which includes Akira Yaegashi as a trainer, he really could go an incredibly long way in this sport.

He’s lightning quick, very heavy handed and has a style that should work immediately in the pros. He’s not an amateur style boxer, who looks to hit and not get hit. Instead he’s an action fighter, who throws heavy shots, looks to get mid-to-close range and switches between head and body really well. Of all the men mentioned so far, we think he has the most “pro-ready” style, and definitely looks like the man who could be on the fast track trajectory, something Ohashi has been very happy to put fighters on in the past. He’s someone we would tip heavily to make a mark on the pro ranks, and do so quickly.

Ren Ohashi [大橋蓮]
Literally as we were writing this Ohashi Gym announced their fourth new signing, this time Ren Ohashi. Ohashi, no relation to gym owner Hideyuki Ohashi, went 45-17 (17) in the amateur ranks, and won the National Athletic Meet and All Japanese titles in 2022, and showed his power with some brutal straight left hands. He began his combat career as a Karate competitor before turning to boxing in High School, and quickly adapted to his new sport, helped in part by his brutal left hand. He admitted that he had considered staying amateur until 2028, for the LA Olympics, but decided to turn professional now, rather than wait another 4 years.

Watching Ohashi’s amateur fights, we see a talented youngster who moves well, fights out of the southpaw stance, has a solid jab and loves to create space, allowing him full leverage on his shots. Up close he’s not quite as comfortable, but does have brutal hooks and uppercuts. He looks really promising but does have some obvious areas to work on, notably his footwork and defense, but that will come with top sparring at the Ohashi gym. With his power he will always have a weapon that will keep opponents honest, if they make a mistake he can certainly make them pay. We suspect he’ll be an exciting to watch and someone who might take a few years to find his groove, but will advance quickly when he gets a few things sorted.

From these 8 men we’d be shocked if at least 2 don’t win world titles, and at least 6 don’t claim titles on some level. It wouldn’t be a surprise at all if these 8 men went on to all have notable success in the pro ranks, though some certainly appear more pro-ready than others, and have styles that look better suited to the professional ranks.

(Images - Boxingnews.jp)

Archives

Categories