Drastic weight loss, ferocious sparring and lax regulation have created a dangerous environment in Japanese boxing, as the sport battles for its future in the country after two fighters died.<\/p>\n
Super featherweight Shigetoshi Kotari and lightweight Hiromasa Urakawa, both 28, fought separate bouts on the same card at Tokyo’s Korakuen Hall on August 2 and died days later following brain surgery.<\/p>\n
Another Japanese boxer died after a bout in Tokyo in December 2023 and one more has been in a coma since May this year.<\/p>\n
The twin tragedies this month sent shockwaves through Japanese boxing, with authorities scrambling to investigate and under pressure to tighten safety.<\/p>\n
Although no clear causes for the deaths have been identified, several factors have emerged that paint a high-risk picture of Japan’s boxing scene.<\/p>\n
“I believe it is safe but the results are everything,” Hideyuki Ohashi, manager and promoter of Japan’s undisputed super bantamweight world champion Naoya Inoue, told AFP.<\/p>\n
“Three people have died (since December 2023) and that’s nothing to be proud of.”<\/p>\n
Following the latest deaths, governing body the Japan Boxing Commission (JBC) held emergency meetings with the Japan Pro Boxing Association (JPBA), which represents boxing gym owners.<\/p>\n
One issue under the microscope is the practice of boxers dehydrating to rapidly lose weight before a weigh-in, then putting it back on before a fight.<\/p>\n
The practice is regarded as a factor in making the brain more susceptible to bleeding, the World Boxing Association says.<\/p>\n
JBC secretary-general Tsuyoshi Yasukochi says the practice — which is also common in other countries — has only become widespread in Japan in recent years and its “safety is not fully understood”.<\/p>\n
“We held classes on dehydration last year where the figure we presented was two to four percent (of a boxer’s body weight) at the very most,” he told AFP.<\/p>\n
“Japanese boxers nowadays lose 10 to 12 percent in just a few days. I think that’s very dangerous.”<\/p>\n
– All-out attack –<\/p>\n
Unlike in Britain, where authorities can ban fighters who use saunas to dehydrate, Japanese boxing officials can only warn fighters whose weight drastically changes between a weigh-in and a fight.<\/p>\n
Officials in Japan are proposing a rule forcing those who regain more than 10 percent of their body weight to move up a weight class for their next bout.<\/p>\n
There is no uniform rule in world boxing about how much weight a fighter can lose and then pile back on.<\/p>\n
The JPBA says more data needs to be analysed before a conclusion can be reached about the best way to tackle it.<\/p>\n
“What happens if we enforce a rule where a fighter isn’t allowed to gain more than 10 percent of their weight and then they go into a world title fight where they’re facing someone who that rule doesn’t apply to?” said JPBA official and gym owner Kazuhiro Ryuko.<\/p>\n
“It makes it pointless to aim for the top and in fact it only increases the risks.”<\/p>\n
Other safety measures under consideration include restrictions on sparring, which JBC chief Yasukochi says is “much more intense” in Japan than other countries.<\/p>\n
He says it typifies the attitude of Japanese boxers, who “never give up, no matter what”.<\/p>\n
He also believes that more Japanese fighters are focusing on attack at the expense of building defensive skills.<\/p>\n
“Japanese boxers attack from the first round, it’s not about strategising and taking your time,” said Yasukochi.<\/p>\n
“As soon as the bell rings, they go straight in and attack.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“That’s become the mainstream approach and I think it’s one reason why they take damage.”<\/p>\n
– Lost trust –<\/p>\n
Boxing in Japan has a history of more than 100 years and has developed in different ways from other countries in some respects.<\/p>\n
Everyone involved in the sport in the country, from fighters to trainers and managers, must belong to a boxing club, of which there are over 150 in Tokyo alone.<\/p>\n
Clubs must apply to the JBC for members’ licences and Yasukochi says requests have historically been rubber-stamped with little scrutiny because of a “long-standing relationship of trust”.<\/p>\n
After the latest deaths, he says stricter oversight must be introduced.<\/p>\n
“I feel that this trust is gradually being lost,” said Yasukochi.<\/p>\n
The JBC and JPBA hope to announce concrete safety measures in September, with issues including ambulance availability and the use of MRI scans also under discussion.<\/p>\n
All parties have stressed the need to act quickly and admit that the future of Japanese boxing is at stake.<\/p>\n
“I think it’s really difficult to reduce the number of accidents to zero,” said the JPBA official and gym owner Ryuko.<\/p>\n
“But the JPBA, the JBC and everyone involved in boxing needs to think about how to make it as close to zero as possible.”<\/p>\n
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