WORLD BEAT
JAPAN BY YURIKO MIYATA 2024 was a year to remember for the Japanese boxing scene, highlighted by historic events and five new world titleholders in an era of unprecedented prosperity. However, it began with deep prayers for the recovery of 23-year-old bantamweight Kazuki Anaguchi, who suffered a brain injury during a rousing 10-round battle with Seiya Tsutsumi on December 26, 2023. Tragically, Anaguchi took his last breath on February 2, the first boxing fatality on Japanese soil in 10 years. But there was great joy in September, when 88-year-old former boxer Iwao Hakamada won his 58-year long battle to clear his name and escape his life sentence for a 1966 murder that he did not commit. Choosing the best boxer of 2024 has become much harder than in recent years when that honor seemed to belong to Naoya Inoue. Undefeated three-division titleholder Junto Nakatani has steadily improved his skills and reputation with three impressive KOs in 2024. The current WBC bantamweight beltholder is legitimately competing with Inoue for the nation’s official Fighter of the Year selection. The Monster, who was the first Japanese boxer to win The Ring’s and the BWAA’s Fighter of the Year honor, has won the national award seven times (six times in a row). Here are my choices for the best of 2024: Fighter of the Year: Naoya Inoue It is still Inoue’s era, even though Nakatani is approaching right behind him. On May 6, the undisputed junior bantamweight champ became the first Japanese boxer to headline the Tokyo Dome, the nation’s first indoor ballpark and a capital of entertainment established in 1988. He faced Luis Nery, a two-
Naoya Inoue isn’t Japan’s only boxing standout, but he shined in 2024 and remains his country’s biggest star.
Naoki Fukuda
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