FLOAT LIKE A BEE FEMALE FIGHTER OF THE YEAR: MIZUKI HIRUTA
challenge [Hiruta], but [Fundora] is the best of them. I’ve heard rumors of [former undisputed strawweight champ and junior flyweight titleholder] Seniesa Estrada getting back into the gym. I’m not saying she’s announced a comeback, but you never know. I’ve got a lot of respect for Seniesa. She used to fight on Gennadiy Golovkin’s and [Roman Gonzalez’s] undercards. That’s a superfight we’d welcome. ” Hiruta’s respected trainer, Manny Robles, believes future glory awaits at bantamweight – after she collects a couple more 115-pound belts. “Our goal is to unify,” said Robles, a 2025 Trainer of the Year nominee who also trains 2025 Upset of the Year winner Armando Resendiz. “Adelaida Ruiz recently won the WBC belt and she’s from Los Angeles, so that would be a good Southern California fight. Jasmine Artiga has the WBA belt; she’s unbeaten. “Or maybe, if the unification bouts can’t be made soon enough, we move up to 118. There’s [Ring Magazine champ] Dina Thorslund. There’s [unified titleholder] Cherneka Johnson. There’s great fighters in the heavier weight classes, but we’ll leave that to Tom.” Loeffler mentioned the possibility of a homecoming bout for Hiruta. “She’s getting offers to fight back in Japan,” he said. “Japanese boxing is experiencing a surge right now.” That’s an understatement, but not entirely true when it comes to the women’s side of the sport. Hiruta had the talent and amateur background to grab her first world title only 14 months and four bouts into her pro career, but she soon hit the glass ceiling. Hiruta won the vacant WBO belt with a unanimous decision over Kanako Taniyama in December 2022 but was limited to only one bout in 2023 and 2024 – stoppages of Casey Croft (TKO 1) and decorated Korean veteran Ji Hyun Park (TKO 6). The inactivity didn’t sit well with Hiruta, but she knew it wouldn’t change if she
remained in Japan. The promotional team she belonged to, Misako Promotions, lacked the financial backing to put on more shows or the international profile and influence to pull in top-rated junior bantamweight challengers. Hiruta knew she would have to leave home if she wanted to emulate the achievements of her countrymen. Witnessing the success of Junto Nakatani, who is trained by an American coach in Los Angeles, and knowing that the Inoue brothers and Kenshiro Teraji have occasionally held mini-camps in Southern California, Hiruta began looking to do the same in 2023.
Japan,” said Miyata. “Her manager asked me if I could help Mizuki find a good gym and trainer. I let her stay at my house and introduced her to Manny. I thought he was the best choice for her because I thought she needed to develop her inside work and offense technique. She agreed.” Robles fondly recalls meeting and working with Hiruta for the first time. “Yuriko made the introduction, and Mimi said she’d like to have a mini- camp to see if we got along,” he said. “We hit it off right away. She’s a great personality. Humble. Hardworking. She got on well with the other coaches and fighters at the gym, too. She’s got a great relationship with everyone because she livens everything up and puts us in a great mood. If she wasn’t a fighter, she could be a comedian. She’s very funny. But she works hard and enjoys her work. She’s very competitive – she doesn’t like to come in second – but she sets a good example for the others.” There was instant chemistry with Robles, but landing a promoter wouldn’t happen overnight. “I talked to several promoters, including Tom and 360, about an opportunity for her to sign with them,” said Robles, “but most of them, except for Tom, were not interested or [were] unsure about her.” Loeffler has experience representing world-class foreign talent in the U.S., having promoted Hall of Famers in Golovkin and the Klitschko brothers, Vitali and Wladimir, as well as future Hall of Famers Gonzalez and Cecelia Braekhus. However, he wasn’t immediately sold on the idea of promoting Hiruta. “Promoting Hiruta wasn’t outside of my wheelhouse, because I specialize in international fighters, but I’d never promoted a female fighter from Japan,” said Loeffler. “I promoted [Naoya] Inoue’s U.S. debut and one of Kazuto Ioka’s fights, but those were one- offs and both fighters were far more experienced than Hiruta.
“She’s clearly No. 1 in her division. She’s No. 1 on BoxRec. She’s a Ring champ, which is something you really have to earn.”
Hiruta made short work of veteran Ji Hyun Park in 2024.
are authentic. It’s who she is. It’s not an act to promote her fights or gain social media followings. There’s a difference between wanting attention and a desire to stand out. Hiruta (10-0, 2 KOs) – “Mimi” to her friends and teammates – is all about the latter. She isn’t interested in the kind of “currency” that Garcia wields. She wants to earn her place among the elite women boxers. However, it’s a safe bet that Hiruta will grow her fan base as she continues to build her legacy. “Her charisma definitely catches people’s eyes,” said Tom Loeffler, who signed her to his 360 Promotions in late 2024. Hiruta’s activity and dominance caught the eyes of hardcore fans and boxing insiders last year. If she hasn’t caught your eye yet, she’ll probably ensnare you this year. Her 2025 campaign – which consisted of four WBO title bouts and two defenses of the Ring Magazine
belt she won in May – resulted in this publication’s Fighter of the Year honors and set up bigger fights for higher stakes. “The plan for 2026 is to capitalize on the success she had last year,” Loeffler told The Ring. “She’s clearly No. 1 in her division. She’s No. 1 on BoxRec. She’s a Ring champ, which is something you really have to earn. Mizuki was just a Japanese phenom prior to last year, but now there’s more American and international awareness about her after fighting four times in California – all broadcast on UFC Fight Pass, which has a global audience. “Her ratings were very high on Fight Pass, especially from Japan. And the reception from the fans in California was encouraging. She’s a big [Shohei] Ohtani fan, [Yoshinobu] Yamamoto is from her hometown, and with the Dodgers winning the World Series, Los Angeles and Japanese sports fans were on a high prior to her fourth bout of
She did so with the blessing of Takashi Misako, her promoter and owner of her home gym in Japan. If she could find an American trainer, maybe she and Misako – who would act as her manager outside of Japan – could also partner up with an American promoter. They targeted Rudy Hernandez, who trains Nakatani and has longstanding ties to the Japanese boxing scene, and Robles, who was recommended by Japanese boxing journalist Yuriko Miyata. Misako reached out to Miyata, who lives in Southern California and had recently helped facilitate Teraji’s visit. That contact set in motion actions that would eventually result in Hiruta’s breakout year. “I knew who Mizuki was because of her amateur accomplishments and how fast she won her first world title, but I met her in person on her 27th birthday, April 12, 2023, when she visited L.A. for her first training camp outside of
2025. “She ended the year with a much higher profile. The presentation of her Ring belt got a lot of notice. She was well received at the WBO convention in Bogota, Colombia. She traveled on her own to Riyadh to support her countrymen, [Junto] Nakatani and [Naoya] Inoue, on December 27. So, step by step, she’s getting to be one of the better-known women boxers.” The goal of 2026 is for Hiruta to share the ring with one of her better- known peers. Loeffler mentioned The Ring’s 2024 Female Fighter of the Year, undisputed flyweight champion Gabriella Fundora. “Fundora would be a huge fight,” he said. “There are great names at flyweight who could come up to
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