When we think of boxing we tend to associate fighters with their land of birth, and that’s usually where they debut. Here however are 5 fighters who made their debut in Japan despite not being Japanese. Of the 5 men 4 were world champions whilst the other was an Olympic champion. The names, on the whole, will be recognisable to boxing fans who may not have realised all of these fighters debuted on Japanese soil
February 1st 1990 – Yuri Arbachakov (Vs Allan Tanaka)
Japan has been the home of many amazing Flyweights, such as Masao Oba and Hiroyuki Ebihara, though perhaps the best of all was Russian born legend Yuri Arbachakov, who debuted along with several other fighters from the former USSR back in February 1990.
Arbachakov, as with many names on this list, was aligned with Kyoei when he turned professional, though prior to making his debut in the pro ranks had been one of the top amateurs of his day. In the unpaid ranks he had amassed a record of 165-21 and claimed gold at the 1989 world amateur championships. That gold was one of the reason’s Kyoei signed him.
After debuting in Tokyo in 1990 Yuri raced through the ranks, claiming a Japanese title in his 8th bout and a world title in his 13th, stopping the great Muangchai Kittikasem for the WBC Flyweight title. Yuri would amass 9 defenses of that belt, beating the likes of Kittikasem, Hugo Rafael Soto, Chatchai Sasakul Raul Juarez and Puma Toguchi, before losing the belt in 1997 and then retiring. By that point he was plagued with hand injuries and had fallen out of love with the sport, with the hand injuries causing a long lay off before his final professional bout, a loss to Sasakul.
February 1st 1990 – Orzubek Nazarov (Vs Makoto Nishizawa)
On the same show as Arbackakov’s debut was another future world champion, Orzubek Nazarov. a Lightweight born in what is now Kyrgyzstan. Nazarov, like Yuri, signed a professional deal with Kyoei and quickly made a name for himself.
As an amateur Nazarov went a excellent 153-12, claiming bronze at the 1986 World championships and a gold at the 1987 European championships. Just like Arbachakov he was raced to a Japanese title, claiming the Lightweight title in his 6th bout and the OPBF title in his 10th bout. His crowing glory however was the WBA Lightweight title which he won in 1993, beating Dingaan Thobela, and held until 1998. In total he defended the title 6 times beating the likes of Thobela, Joey Gamache and Levander Johnson, before losing the belt to Jean-Baptiste Mendy in 1998, suffering a career ending eye injury in the process.
April 15th 1996- Choi Chol Su (Vs Juanito Boy Cuma) – Antonio Inoki brokered deal
The most obscure fighter on this list is the peculiar Choi Chol Su, another of the many fighters to fight under the Kyoei banner. Unlike the two mentioned above however, Choi never went on to win a world title,in fact as a professional he only went 3-0 (3).
Choi debuted in April 1996 against Juanito Boy Cuma on a card headlined by a world title defense by Nazarov. Choi stopped the experienced Cuma, who retired at the end of round 3, then vanished from boxing for 30 months. He reappeared in China in 1998 and claimed the “interim” PABA Featherweight title, stopping Eak Donjadee in 3 rounds. He vanished for another year before resurfacing in August 1999 to stop veteran Samuel Duran in 2 rounds. Before vanishing from boxing.
All of that might not sound that interesting however Choi is best known for two things. Firstly he is one of the very few North Korean’s to turn professional and fight outside of his homeland, in fact his deal to sign with Kyoei was brokered with wrestling legend Antonio Inoki. Secondly his amateur background was incredible and he won a gold medal at the 1992 Olympics. Not only did he claim gold but he beat Paul Ingle, Robbie Peden and Istvan Kovacs on route to that medal, all of whom went on to claim world titles in the professional ranks. Choi is certainly an enigma but given what we know he was clearly a talented fighter who sadly wasted what could have been a great career.
December 15th 2002 – Jorge Linares (Vs Kyong-Soo Chung)
One of the more well known fighters to make his debut in Japan in the last 20 years is Venezuelan Jorge Linares, who signed with Kyoei’s key historical rival Teiken. The Venezuelan is one of a number of Latin American’s currently fighting under the Teiken banner, along with Carlos Cuadras and Roman Gonzalez.
Linares, like the 3 previously mentioned, was an outstanding amateur, running up an 89-5 record and claiming various domestic titles. He missed out on major international titles though would likely have claimed that had he not turned professional at just 17, debuting on a card headlined by the great Joichiro Tatsuyoshi. His debut was a cameo-like 45 second blow out of a Korean foe and he would continue to build his name ion Japan, fighting his first 7 bouts there.
Linares quickly advanced his record and less than 5 years after his debut he was 23-0 (14), it was then that he got his first world title fight, claiming the WBC Featherweight title with a stoppage of Oscar Larios. After just one defense Linares moved up in weight and claimed the WBA Super Featherweight title. Sadly he lost that title in 2009 in Japan, being stopped in an upset of the year to Juan Carlos Salgado, in what was Linares’ first world title bout in Japan. After a rocky few years Linares returned to world level in 2014, stopping Javier Prieto in Tokyo to become a 3-weight champion. One of the very few Japanese managed fighters to achieve that feat.
March 17th 2009 – Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (Vs Akira Yaegashi)
Whilst the first 4 men on this list debuted in Japan as “home fighters”, despite not being Japanese, the same cannot be said of Thailand’s Srisaket Sor Rungvisai who was a Nakornluang novice when he debuted in Japan as a visitor, to face former world title challenger Akira Yaegashi, who has subsequently become a 3-weight world champion.
Unfortunately for Srisaket he would lose to Yaegashi in 3 rounds, before moving to 1-3-1, with all 3 losses coming in Japan. From April 2010 however he began to grow as a fighter and went on an incredible 26 fight winning streak, claiming the WBC Super Flyweight title from Japan’s Yota Sato. That run only came to an end in 2014 when he lost a close technical decision to Carlos Cuadras in Mexico.
Since the loss to Cuadras we’ve seen Srisaket go 13-0 (12) and keep the pressure on the WBC to help gain a second world title fight. Unsurprisingly few have been willing to face the Thai, who made light work of Jose Salgado last year in a WBC final eliminator, and given his style and aggression we doubt anyone will be rushing to face him, though a bout with the Cudras/Gonzalez winner would likely be on the cards for the all action southpaw.
As well as the 5 men listed above other international fighters to debut in Japan include-
American Charles Bellamy, who amazingly debuted against the current Oriental champion Takayuki Hosokawa, who is ranked #3 by the IBF at Light Middleweight,
Former world Heavyweight title challenger Okello Peter originally from Uganda,
and Ricardo Arredondo Jr, the son of the former world champion Ricardo Arredondo, who debuted in 1996 after missing out on the Atlanta Olympics. Sadly Arredondo went on to kill someone in Japan putting his career on hiatus for 10 years and was eventually forced out of the country.
Scott Graveson covers the Asian boxing scene for asianboxing.info
Photo by Stephen Smith of DigitalSportsPhoto: DSP
