The best Japanese boxer ever?
Posted: 13 Apr 2026, 13:54
Has there ever been anyone as good as Inoue?
Probably not. Throw some name on here..
Let’s decide now.
BoxRec
The best Japanese boxer ever?
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Re: The best Japanese boxer ever?
Posted: 13 Apr 2026, 13:56
Re: The best Japanese boxer ever?
Posted: 13 Apr 2026, 14:07
Honestly there's a strong argument that Nakatani is the 2nd best Japanese boxer ever. Nakatani would certainly have to be Top 5 for Japanese Boxing Champions.
Inoue as the #1 Japanese boxer can't be debated I'd say. The only person who could knock that crown off of him is Nakatani in a few weeks.
Inoue as the #1 Japanese boxer can't be debated I'd say. The only person who could knock that crown off of him is Nakatani in a few weeks.
Re: The best Japanese boxer ever?
Posted: 13 Apr 2026, 14:13
Inoue a clear no. 1, but just to mention other names: Masamori Tokuyama, Kenshiro Teraji, Masamichi Yabuki, Shinsuke Yamanaka, Hozumi Hasegawa
Re: The best Japanese boxer ever?
Posted: 13 Apr 2026, 14:55
Fighting Harada was good too. But Inoue is probably level above him. Lets see how he handle Nakatani 
Re: The best Japanese boxer ever?
Posted: 13 Apr 2026, 15:03
I think similarly to England, they've had more Champions in the last 30 or 40 years than they'd had in the previous 60 or 70 right? I could be wrong on that I admittedly don't know as much about Japanese Boxing history as I do about the history of other countries.
But none of the biggest name Japanese boxers I've heard of can match the achievements of Inoue.
But none of the biggest name Japanese boxers I've heard of can match the achievements of Inoue.
Re: The best Japanese boxer ever?
Posted: 13 Apr 2026, 20:31
A lot of great Japanese boxers lately. I really like the fact that they seem to be willing to face anyone. Making boxing great again!
Re: The best Japanese boxer ever?
Posted: 13 Apr 2026, 20:43
Kenshiro Teraji was in my p4p top ten after the Kyoguchi bout, I really got into him at that time. Tenshin Nasukawa also looked amazing against Estrada on Saturday, he can achieve great things in the future. Is Reito Tsutsumi the next big thing?
Re: The best Japanese boxer ever?
Posted: 13 Apr 2026, 20:50
Re: The best Japanese boxer ever?
Posted: 14 Apr 2026, 00:03
Well that's annoying, I wrote a detailed explanation and the site logged me out and lost the post.
Long story short, he is more than likely what the Japanese term a Zainichi (Korean).
Long story short, he is more than likely what the Japanese term a Zainichi (Korean).
Re: The best Japanese boxer ever?
Posted: 14 Apr 2026, 01:02
Yeah Inoue is definitely at the top right now.
Hard to really put anyone above him, even with names like Fighting Harada. The way he dominates and makes it look easy is just on another level.
Still need to see it over time, but right now it’s hard to argue against him
Hard to really put anyone above him, even with names like Fighting Harada. The way he dominates and makes it look easy is just on another level.
Still need to see it over time, but right now it’s hard to argue against him
Re: The best Japanese boxer ever?
Posted: 14 Apr 2026, 03:03
Hard to rate lower weight fighters when there are four belts, 3-4 pounds apart and it’s been relatively easy for good fighters to collect several belts, vs fighters from the era when there was only one, or maybe two flyweight, bantamweight and featherweight champions. Inoue is the best of his era, but I also thought highly of the skills of Yamanaka, Kazuto Ioka and prime Hozumi Hasegawa especially in the modern era. In the previous one, I’d probably go with Harada, who beat a prime Jofre twice on close decisions in Japan and KO’d the flyweight great, Pone Kingpetch, and Kuniaki Shibata beat the great featherweight champion Vincente Saldivar and won and lost titles a few other times
Re: The best Japanese boxer ever?
Posted: 14 Apr 2026, 04:09
To my knowledge Inoue is the only fighter to have ever won a Championship at 108 and also won a Championship at 122 (He's Undisputed at 122). I could be wrong on that, but if another fighter did that I'm not aware of it.giacomino wrote: ↑14 Apr 2026, 03:03 Hard to rate lower weight fighters when there are four belts, 3-4 pounds apart and it’s been relatively easy for good fighters to collect several belts, vs fighters from the era when there was only one, or maybe two flyweight, bantamweight and featherweight champions. Inoue is the best of his era, but I also thought highly of the skills of Yamanaka, Kazuto Ioka and prime Hozumi Hasegawa especially in the modern era. In the previous one, I’d probably go with Harada, who beat a prime Jofre twice on close decisions in Japan and KO’d the flyweight great, Pone Kingpetch, and Kuniaki Shibata beat the great featherweight champion Vincente Saldivar and won and lost titles a few other times
Pacquiao's first title came at 112, and as we know he went well beyond 122, but Flyweight fighters moving up past Bantamweight successfully is extremely rare in any era.
Re: The best Japanese boxer ever?
Posted: 14 Apr 2026, 10:15
True. Harada won belts at flyweight and bantamweight when there wasn’t a jr. featherweight division (or jr. bantamweight or lt. flyweight, for that matter). Hasegawa won belts at 118 and 126 and failed past-his-prime at 122. It seems like there are a lot of Japanese fighters who started winning alphabet belts at minimum weight or lt. flyweight and have accumulated three or so belts. I consider Inoue the best boxer in the world at present. He has made rally good fighters look like club fighters/very ordinary on many occasionsgilgamesh wrote: ↑14 Apr 2026, 04:09To my knowledge Inoue is the only fighter to have ever won a Championship at 108 and also won a Championship at 122 (He's Undisputed at 122). I could be wrong on that, but if another fighter did that I'm not aware of it.giacomino wrote: ↑14 Apr 2026, 03:03 Hard to rate lower weight fighters when there are four belts, 3-4 pounds apart and it’s been relatively easy for good fighters to collect several belts, vs fighters from the era when there was only one, or maybe two flyweight, bantamweight and featherweight champions. Inoue is the best of his era, but I also thought highly of the skills of Yamanaka, Kazuto Ioka and prime Hozumi Hasegawa especially in the modern era. In the previous one, I’d probably go with Harada, who beat a prime Jofre twice on close decisions in Japan and KO’d the flyweight great, Pone Kingpetch, and Kuniaki Shibata beat the great featherweight champion Vincente Saldivar and won and lost titles a few other times
Pacquiao's first title came at 112, and as we know he went well beyond 122, but Flyweight fighters moving up past Bantamweight successfully is extremely rare in any era.
Re: The best Japanese boxer ever?
Posted: 14 Apr 2026, 11:41
Kazuto Ioka deserves a shout in that regard, too.