This is a list of Japanese boxing world champions who have won major world titles from the "Big four" governing bodies in

professional boxing Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse bid, purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regula ...

namely the

World Boxing Association The World Boxing Association (WBA), formerly known as the National Boxing Association (NBA), is the oldest and one of four major organizations which sanction professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Council (WBC), International Boxi ...

(WBA),

World Boxing Council The World Boxing Council (WBC) is an international professional boxing organization. It is among the four major organizations which sanction professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), International Boxing Federation ...

(WBC),

International Boxing Federation The International Boxing Federation (IBF) is one of four major organizations recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) which sanctions professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), World Boxing Counci ...

(IBF) and

World Boxing Organization The World Boxing Organization (WBO) is an organization which sanctions professional boxing bouts. It is recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) as one of the four major world championship groups, alongside the World Boxing ...

(WBO). It was in 1952 that

Yoshio Shirai was a professional boxer from Tokyo, Japan. He won the world flyweight title in 1952, becoming the first Japanese boxer to win a world title. Childhood and early career Shirai first boxed in elementary school, during a mock match-up against a ...

won the world flyweight crown, becoming the first Japanese world champion. Japan ranks third worldwide between countries with most boxing world champions. The most thriving period of Japan's boxing ran from the 1960s to the early 1970s. In the "golden 60s,"

Fighting Harada Masahiko Harada (born April 5, 1943), better known as Fighting Harada, is a Japanese former professional boxer. He is a world champion in two weight classes, having held the NYSAC, WBA, and ''The Ring'' undisputed flyweight titles from 1962 t ...

won championships in two divisions—flyweight and bantamweight. In the 1970s, Japan had 5 world champions for a short period at the same time. Notable achievements in that period were

Kuniaki Shibata Kuniaki Shibata (柴田国明, born March 29, 1947, in Hitachi, Japan) is a Japanese former professional boxer who competed from 1965 to 1977. He is a world champion in two weight classes, having held the WBC and ''The Ring featherweight titl ...

's attainment of 3 world championships in two divisions,

Guts Ishimatsu , better known as is a Japanese actor, comedian, tarento and former professional boxer who competed in the Lightweight division from 1966 to 1978. He is a one-time former WBC Lightweight Champion and an OPBF Lightweight Champion. As a boxer ...

captured the WBC lightweight championship becoming the first Japanese champion in the lightweight division.

Koichi Wajima Koichi Wajima (輪島功一, born 21 April 1943) is a Japanese former professional boxer who was the undisputed light-middleweight champion. He held the WBA and WBC titles from 1971 and 1974, he regained the titles in January 1975 that included ...

, one of the most popular boxers in Japan for his peculiar "Frog Jump" uppercut punch, also left a big footstep in Japan's boxing history by winning junior middleweight championship 3 times including 6 consecutive title defenses.

List of men's professional boxing world champions

The following is a list of Japanese boxing champions who have held titles from one or more of the "Big Four" organizations (WBA, WBC, IBF, WBO) and ''The Ring. WBA has four recognized world champions, ''Super'', ''Undisputed'', ''Unified'', and ''Regular''. The highest tier title is considered the primary champion of the division. Only boxers who are in the primary champion lineage are listed. The ranking of WBA's primary champions are as follows: *''Super''/''Undisputed'' *''Unified'' *''Regular'' Other former international/national-world boxing commissions and organizations from the beginning of boxing are also included here: *

New York State Athletic Commission The New York State Athletic Commission or NYSAC, also known as the New York Athletic Commission, is a division of the New York State Department of State which regulates all contests and exhibitions of unarmed combat within the state of New York, ...

(

NYSAC The New York State Athletic Commission or NYSAC, also known as the New York Athletic Commission, is a division of the New York State Department of State which regulates all contests and exhibitions of unarmed combat within the state of New York, i ...

) * National Boxing Association (NBA) - changed its name to World Boxing Association (WBA) in 1962

Note

*Interim titles are not included unless they get promoted to the official champion. *For WBA champions, only champions in the WBA primary lineage are listed.

List of WBA secondary champions

List of women's professional boxing world champions

The following is a list of female Japanese boxing champions who have held titles from one or more of the "Big Four" organizations (WBA, WBC, IBF, WBO) and The Ring.

Current titleholders in world boxing sanctioning bodies

Major (WBA, WBC, IBF, WBO)

Men's World Champions

Women's World Champions

References

External links

Japanese Boxing
{{DEFAULTSORT:Japanese World Champions boxing champions, List of Japanese Japanese world boxing champions, List of *

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

Boxing in Japan