A cclaimed Japanese fight photographer Naoki Fukuda is arguably the best there is in his chosen field. In boxing parlance, this charming and unassuming man is undefeated, pound-for-pound rated and sure to retire as an all-time great. Honing his craft for five decades, Fukuda has snapped many of the greatest champions of the modern era and shows no signs of slowing down. For anyone who believes that I’m waxing lyrical for no reason, let the stats and accomplishments speak for themselves. Fukuda has been recognized by the Boxing Writers Association of America 12 times in the past 15 years, with feature or action photography garnering him first place on four occasions. In 2024, he was also named Photographer of the Decade by the WBC. His work is constantly in demand.
Along with providing shots for The Ring and other international publications, Fukuda has established himself as Japan’s official boxing photographer. He is the go-to lensman for the Japanese Boxing Commission and Teiken Promotions, as well as Amazon Prime whenever the streaming giant broadcasts boxing in his home country. When there’s big- fight action in Japan, Fukuda is part of the tapestry and has the respect of the entire industry. However, as successful and decorated as he’s been, Fukuda, like many of the champions he’s photographed over the years, has had to work hard to get to the top. Born in Tokyo on July 15, 1965, Fukuda was the youngest of two children, having an older sister. The family business was lacquerware wholesale, which is the bulk selling of decorative dinnerware, boxes, furniture
and other goods. Growing up, Naoki was extremely close to his grandfather, Shigeo, whose wish was for him to take over the business upon his retirement. As it turned out, however, Naoki’s grandfather also had a keen interest in photography and took pictures all over Europe. In the early 1970s, a Pentax camera was a high-quality, expensive piece of hardware, so when Shigeo handed down an older model to his grandson, he was off to a great start. And destiny was calling when Naoki found his next passion. “Back then, boxing was like soccer here now in Japan [in terms of popularity],” Fukuda told The Ring via translator Mizuka Koike. “Every household was watching boxing matches on TV. The likes of Guts Ishimatsu, [Koichi] Wajima and Kuniaki Shibata; all these guys were fighting. “Boxing is such a hard sport, so Japan gave all the respect to
professional boxers back then. I just fell in love with the sport.” Shortly thereafter, while in the seventh grade, Fukuda made a new friend named Teruyuki Kagawa, who would eventually become a famous actor. The pair were supposed to be studying at school, but the vast majority of their time was taken up studying boxing. Naoki produced self-made boxing newspapers for classmates, but the only person who showed serious interest in them was Teruyuki. “Newspapers and magazines were the main sources for the sport, but we’d also visit a bookstore,” Fukuda recalled with a smile. “We’d read all the stories, look at the pictures, and try to imagine how the fight went, like when [Alexis] Arguello beat [Diego] Alcala (KO 1). “Videos were treasures back then. It was Teruyuki who would get fights
from abroad. Anytime he did, we’d have a sleepover and watch them all. Even today, we still talk about boxing like crazy. We go abroad to see fights and still watch tapes of all the great fighters from the past.” Early on in his boxing journey, Fukuda’s interest was mainly on Japanese warriors. However, all of that changed when arguably the greatest junior featherweight of all time ventured to “The Land of the Rising Sun” to take on a former world titleholder in January 1978. “Wilfredo Gomez fought against Royal Kobayashi,” remembered Fukuda, recalling what was Bazooka’s second defense of the WBC 122-pound title. “During that match, which Kobayashi lost, Gomez landed the knockout punch going backwards. Up until that time, I saw Japanese fighters winning by coming forward. What
Gomez did looked unusual; he stepped back and countered [with a left hook], which made me realize just how artistic boxing could be. That was when I fell in love with fighters from abroad.” While in middle school, Fukuda became aware of Kazumichi Hayashi, who was a boxing photographer based in Los Angeles. To that point, the fledgling young photographer had no idea that pictures, magazines and the sport he loved could be blended into a career. This proved to be a crucial turning point. Fukuda pursued his education and set himself the goal of becoming a full-time fight photographer. He graduated from Dokkyo University in 1989. One year earlier, while still helping with the family business, Fukuda began working for Boxing Magazine in Japan. The publication already employed photographers, so writing
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