WORLD BEAT
first defense with a single left hand to the stomach of Vincent Astrolabio. In October, he had no problems with veteran Thai southpaw Tasana Salapat, who’d never been knocked down in 77 pro fights, blasting the challenger to the floor in the sixth frame. Nakatani worked only 13 rounds in earning these victories, but those three bouts were backed by almost 200 rounds of sparring in both his hometown of Sagamihara, Japan, and his second home of Los Angeles with mentor Rudy Hernandez and assistant coach Daisuke Okabe. Nakatani was added to The Ring’s pound-for-pound top 10 in April. The 26-year-old southpaw says his goal is to reach No. 1 on the P4P rankings and believes Inoue “must be the path to it.” Breakthrough of the Year: Seiya Tsutsumi It is unimaginable how dramatic 2024 was for Seiya Tsutsumi. In December 2023, Tsutsumi won a hard-fought 10-round decision over skilled southpaw Kazuki Anaguchi by scoring four knockdowns, the final one occurring 10 seconds before the final bell. Anaguchi collapsed in the dressing room and was taken to a hospital. Tsutsumi was so damaged that he could not show up to the post-fight press conference the next day. Anaguchi did not recover from his injuries. The 23-year-old died on February 2 from the subdural hematoma he suffered against Tsutsumi. Tsutsumi carried the heartache and trauma into his training camp for his first title shot, and on October 13, he lifted the WBA bantamweight title from heavily favored Takuma Inoue in one of the best 12-round fights of 2024. The unanimous decision victory not only avenged an amateur loss to Inoue during their high school days; it was also dedicated to his late rival Anaguchi, resting in heaven. Comeback of the Year: Masamichi Yabuki A ruptured Achilles tendon, suffered in training in 2023, hampered Masamichi Yabuki enough to make an ordinary boxer give up on his professional career, but Yabuki is no ordinary fighter. On October
12, he stunned IBF junior flyweight titleholder Sivenathi Nontshinga with long, solid jabs, flooring the gutsy South African three times in the eighth and ninth rounds to earn a ninth-round TKO and regain a piece of the 108-pound championship. The former WBC titleholder had been uncrowned since he was stopped by Kenshiro Teraji in their direct rematch for the green belt back in March 2022. Yabuki had earned the No. 1 spot in the IBF with a stoppage of Ronald Chacon back in January 2023, but the torn left Achilles tendon (suffered during sparring) kept him out of the ring until March 2024, when he returned with a fourth- round stoppage of inexperienced Kevin Vivas. The 32-year-old veteran continues his career, while inspiring his fighting daughter Yuduki (14) and son Katsuba (11), both national-level amateurs, as well as his younger brother Masanori Rikiishi, a professional who is climbing the 130-pound rankings. Upsets of the Year: scored by Yuri Seigo Akui, Ryosuke Nishida and Yoshiki Takei In 2024, Japan’s world titleholder club added five new members: Yuri Seigo Akui (WBA flyweight), Ryosuke Nishida (IBF bantamweight), Yoshiki Takei (WBO bantamweight), Shokichi Iwata (WBO junior flyweight) and Seiya Tsutsumi (WBA bantamweight). Akui, Nishida and Takei surprised and impressed people by overcoming experienced and respected foes. The first upset came in January, when Akui faced undefeated Artem Dalakian, who had defended his WBA flyweight belt six times since winning the vacant title against Brian Viloria in February 2018. Although the Ukrainian champion had to get ready under the national emergency of wartime, the odds were still in his favor, with his amateur background, professional experience and respected skills, to keep any opponent at bay. But Akui led the fight from the beginning. He was determined to keep his severe pressure on the champion and wear him out by the late rounds, which enabled him to earn a 12-round unanimous decision. Akui
is the first world titleholder based in the Okayama prefecture, which spawned the likes of Joichiro Tatsuyoshi, Nao Ikeyama and Mizuki Hiruta. As Akui has since made two title defenses, Japanese fans now expect him to unify titles against former unified Ring Magazine 108-pound champ Kenshiro Teraji, who currently holds the WBC flyweight title. It was an even bigger surprise to see Nishida beat two-time IBF bantamweight beltholder Emmanuel Rodriguez in his first world title challenge, and just his ninth pro fight, on May 4. The tall southpaw challenger got in a rhythm, finding good positions to control Rodriguez from the first round on. In the fourth round, Nishida landed a left to the body to drop the savvy Puerto Rican to the canvas. Nishida managed to hold off Rodriguez's mid-rounds rally to take a unanimous decision. Upset victories are Nishida’s signature, as he’s done so against former world title challenger Shohei Omori in his third pro bout and also against former WBC flyweight titleholder Daigo Higa in his fourth pro bout. He’s now 10-0 after a December 15 title defense. Just two days after Nishida beat Rodriguez, Takei pulled off a big win over WBO bantamweight titleholder Jason Moloney in his ninth pro bout on the Inoue-Nery undercard. The popular former kickboxing champion started winning rounds with well-prepared, quick in-out movement and his own erratic southpaw style against the disciplined Australian, who staged a furious late rally that fell short. Takei won a hard-fought unanimous decision and became the 100th world titleholder recognized by the Japan Boxing Commission record book, which dates back to Yoshio Shirai winning the world flyweight championship in 1952.
his national title. His six victories are all by knockout, and he’s currently ranked in the top 15 of all four major sanctioning bodies.
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AUSTRALIA BY ANTHONY COCKS Ring Magazine and IBF cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia was one of the few top- flight Aussie boxers to survive 2024 without a loss. The dynamic southpaw proved his win over Mairis Briedis two years ago was no fluke, outpointing the Latvian veteran in Saudi Arabia in May before battering Jack Massey into submission in six rounds, again in Saudi Arabia, in October. defense against undefeated New Zealander David Nyika, who steps in to replace the injured Huseyin Cinkara of Germany. Olympic bronze medalist Nyika, profiled as the subject of “New Faces” in the December 2024 edition of The Ring, is a former sparring partner of Opetaia. If all went well, the bout will have taken place by the time you read this, as it was scheduled for January 8 at the Convention Centre on the Gold Coast, Queensland. Liam Paro ambushed Subriel Matias in Puerto Rico in June to lift the IBF junior welterweight Opetaia kicks off his 2025 campaign with a world title
August 2023. In February, Masuda came back to the ring with a surprising first-round KO over Filipino veteran Jonas Sultan, courtesy of one straight left to the body. He proceeded to a rematch with Fumiya Fuse, who’d won the national title vacated by Tsutsumi, and stopped him again with a clean right hook in the fourth round in July. In November, he KO’d veteran Yoshihiro Utsumi in the seventh round to make the first defense of
title in what was one of the upsets of the year, but the lefthander’s return to the island six months later ended in a points defeat to Richardson Hitchins. Jason Moloney kicked off 2024 with an impressive defense of his WBO bantamweight title against Saul Sanchez via majority decision in Quebec City, Canada. A trip to Japan in May to face Yoshiki Takei didn’t go as well, with the former kickboxing champion annexing the
Seiya Tsutsumi (left) went from tragedy to triumph with his rousing 12-round victory over Takuma Inoue.
Prospect of the Year: Riku Masuda
The next star from Japan may be Riku Masuda, the fast-rising Japan bantamweight champion from the Teiken stable. The 27-year-old southpaw has displayed savvy punching prowess in both hands since his professional debut in July 2022.
He earned recognition as one of the top domestic boxers in his fourth pro bout, a hard-fought 10-round decision loss to Seiya Tsutsumi for the national title in the semifinal of Monster Tournament in
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