PROSPECT WATCH: Yuga Fujiki By Daisuke Sugiura
J apanese boxing is thriving. Naoya Inoue, Junto Nakatani, Kenshiro Teraji and Kazuto Ioka, among other standouts, have established themselves as elite champions, bringing the nation’s fight scene to global prominence. Yet much of that success has been concentrated in the lower weight classes, as Japan currently has no world titleholders at featherweight or above. When Jin Sasaki challenged WBO welterweight titleholder Brian Norman Jr. on June 19, the Japanese slugger was stopped in the fifth round. Later this year, on November 14, Andy Hiraoka will attempt to dethrone WBA junior welterweight titleholder Gary Antuanne Russell, but few see him as the favorite. There have been rare exceptions – former IBF junior lightweight titleholder Kenichi Ogawa; Takanori Hatakeyama, who captured the WBA junior lightweight and lightweight titles; and Ryota Murata, who held the WBA middleweight crown – but their reigns were short-lived. Now, however, a new fighter who may change everything is emerging. His name is Yuga Fujiki, a 17-year-old prodigy from Kokoku High School in Osaka – a fighter already being hailed
RINGMAGAZINE.COM 55
Made with FlippingBook - Online magazine maker