Rookie of the Year
One thing we truly love in boxing is a tournament, a really good tournament can put fighters on the track to big things, and whilst they can often feel disorganised and can take far too long to reach their conclusions they are still an often over-looked part of the sport. The WBSS and Super Six may not have gone as smoothly as they should but they both helped us see some great fights.
Whilst global tournaments can feel rather frustrating national tournaments are much less messy, and the annual Japanese Rookie of the Year is simply a brilliant tournament that puts rookies in a competition, allowing them to face fellow rookies. Whilst the tournament isn't anywhere close to the profile of the WBSS the competition is simply fantastic, it runs like a smoothly machine and has provided so much action over the years that it's very much an integral part of the Japanese boxing calendar, and has been for much, much longer than any annual tournament in boxing.
For those unaware the tournament runs annually, beginning in the early part of the year, with some preliminary bouts to narrow the field, and ending in December with the All Japan final at the Korakuen Hall. Whilst that hasn't always been the case it is now, and has worked incredibly well since moving from the Osaka Prefectural Hall in the 1990's
Whilst global tournaments can feel rather frustrating national tournaments are much less messy, and the annual Japanese Rookie of the Year is simply a brilliant tournament that puts rookies in a competition, allowing them to face fellow rookies. Whilst the tournament isn't anywhere close to the profile of the WBSS the competition is simply fantastic, it runs like a smoothly machine and has provided so much action over the years that it's very much an integral part of the Japanese boxing calendar, and has been for much, much longer than any annual tournament in boxing.
For those unaware the tournament runs annually, beginning in the early part of the year, with some preliminary bouts to narrow the field, and ending in December with the All Japan final at the Korakuen Hall. Whilst that hasn't always been the case it is now, and has worked incredibly well since moving from the Osaka Prefectural Hall in the 1990's
Regions
The early bouts take place at local level, with Japan split into 4 regional locations, and gyms based in those locations can enter their rookies into the regional preliminary rounds.
The regions are East Japan, which is the Kanto region and has places like Tokyo and Yokohama. West Japan, which is the the Kansai region, featuring Osaka and Kyoto. The Western region, which features places like Hiroshima and Kyushu, and the Central region, which includes places like Nagoya.
For East Japan the tournament is a straight forward one and is a straight regional knockout competition which has it's semi-finals in September and it's regional final in November. The winner of the East Japan Rookie of the Year will compete in the All Japan final in December.
For the other regions things are a little bit more complicated, but essentially the rest of Japan fights for the West Japan place in the final.
The West Japan representative is the combined winner of the West, Western and Central regions. Due to the smaller boxing bases in these areas they all compete for the West Japan place.
To decide the representative the Western and Central Japanese regional winners face off in September, and they then face the West Japan winner in November. The winner of that November bout then goes on to face the East Japan winner in the All Japan final.
The early stages of the East Japan tournament are typically preliminary bouts fought on shows by the Eastern Japan gyms, but the later stages are promoted by the East Japan Boxing Association. Likewise some early rounds of the over-arching West region can be fought on smaller cards, and in fact sometimes the regional rookie finals share cards headlined by a none-Rookie bout.
Typically the All Japan finals will be 4 round bouts, but if both fighters have more than 4 wins to their name the bout will be a 5 round contest.
The regions are East Japan, which is the Kanto region and has places like Tokyo and Yokohama. West Japan, which is the the Kansai region, featuring Osaka and Kyoto. The Western region, which features places like Hiroshima and Kyushu, and the Central region, which includes places like Nagoya.
For East Japan the tournament is a straight forward one and is a straight regional knockout competition which has it's semi-finals in September and it's regional final in November. The winner of the East Japan Rookie of the Year will compete in the All Japan final in December.
For the other regions things are a little bit more complicated, but essentially the rest of Japan fights for the West Japan place in the final.
The West Japan representative is the combined winner of the West, Western and Central regions. Due to the smaller boxing bases in these areas they all compete for the West Japan place.
To decide the representative the Western and Central Japanese regional winners face off in September, and they then face the West Japan winner in November. The winner of that November bout then goes on to face the East Japan winner in the All Japan final.
The early stages of the East Japan tournament are typically preliminary bouts fought on shows by the Eastern Japan gyms, but the later stages are promoted by the East Japan Boxing Association. Likewise some early rounds of the over-arching West region can be fought on smaller cards, and in fact sometimes the regional rookie finals share cards headlined by a none-Rookie bout.
Typically the All Japan finals will be 4 round bouts, but if both fighters have more than 4 wins to their name the bout will be a 5 round contest.
Reasons to Enter
For most rookies entering the Rookie of the Year is a no brainer, if they can. Competing in the tournament typically means you're matched in competitive fights, at least on paper, the tournament will keep you active through the year and you'll usually know when, where and who you're fighting. If you reach the final stages you'll have exposure for your career thanks to a combination of online distribution and televised bouts, and you also get a Japanese ranking for winning the tournament.
As well as the ranking the tournament also gives awards for the MVP, Fighting Spirit and Skills, which allows further recognition for fighters.
More than anything however the Rookie of the Year is launchpad for careers and numerous Rookie of the Year winners have gone on to big success winning national, regional and world titles. It is as good a proving ground as boxing gets, and if you're not a prospect with experience, it is an incredibly significant competition, and something that really does help build careers.
As well as the ranking the tournament also gives awards for the MVP, Fighting Spirit and Skills, which allows further recognition for fighters.
More than anything however the Rookie of the Year is launchpad for careers and numerous Rookie of the Year winners have gone on to big success winning national, regional and world titles. It is as good a proving ground as boxing gets, and if you're not a prospect with experience, it is an incredibly significant competition, and something that really does help build careers.
Rules on Eligibility
Of course everyone's definition of what a "rookie" is is different but to compete in the Rookie of the year you must be a C class fighter, so top prospects can't enter, they can have up to 4 professional bouts and up to 40 amateur bouts, though this does have it's own limitations, and can enter Rookie of the Year up to 3 times.
The other limitation on entry is weight class. There divisions covered in the Rookie of the Year are Minimumweight to Middleweight, except for the Light Middleweight division which isn't included, giving a total of 12 weight classes.
The other limitation on entry is weight class. There divisions covered in the Rookie of the Year are Minimumweight to Middleweight, except for the Light Middleweight division which isn't included, giving a total of 12 weight classes.
How To Watch
The early East Japan preliminary rounds are rather scattered gunned in regards to where to watch, but the East Rookie of the Year semi-finals are typically available online, with Boxing Raise and A-Sign boxing making them available in recent years for free.
The West and East Japan finals are shown on G+ on a tape delay basis before the All Japan final is shown live on G+, in what is typically their final boxing show of the year.
The West and East Japan finals are shown on G+ on a tape delay basis before the All Japan final is shown live on G+, in what is typically their final boxing show of the year.
Past Winners
It would take all week to list all the All Japan Rookie of the Year winners, however some of the notable winners include:
Fighting Harada
Kuniaki Shibata
Guts Ishimatsu
Koichi Wajima
Katsuo Tokashiki
Hiroshi Kobyashi
Jiro Watanabe
Shiji Takehara
Takanori Hatakeyama
Masamori Tokuyama
Katsunari Takayama
Ryoichi Taguchi
and Masayuki Ito
As well as the world champions are some of the previous MVP's award winners:
Jiro Watanabe
Naoto Takahashi
Puma Toguchi
Takanori Hatakeyyama
Yuji Gomez
Akinori Watanabe
Masayuki Kuroda
Shuhei Tsuchiya
Kenichi Ogawa
and Yuta Saito
Fighting Harada
Kuniaki Shibata
Guts Ishimatsu
Koichi Wajima
Katsuo Tokashiki
Hiroshi Kobyashi
Jiro Watanabe
Shiji Takehara
Takanori Hatakeyama
Masamori Tokuyama
Katsunari Takayama
Ryoichi Taguchi
and Masayuki Ito
As well as the world champions are some of the previous MVP's award winners:
Jiro Watanabe
Naoto Takahashi
Puma Toguchi
Takanori Hatakeyyama
Yuji Gomez
Akinori Watanabe
Masayuki Kuroda
Shuhei Tsuchiya
Kenichi Ogawa
and Yuta Saito