Japanese boxing is at “a crucial moment” and could cease to exist if it does not radically improve safety, Japan Boxing Commission (JBC) secretary-general Tsuyoshi Yasukochi said following the deaths of two fighters.
Super featherweight Shigetoshi Kotari and lightweight Hiromasa Urakawa, both 28, fought on the same card at Tokyo’s Korakuen Hall on Aug. 2 and died days later following brain surgery.
The deaths have shaken the Japanese boxing world to the core, with authorities investigating the causes and debating measures to prevent further tragedies.
Photo: Kyodo News via AP
Yasukochi said that they cannot afford to botch their response and that the future of the sport is at stake.
“If we don’t improve things, this sport won’t be able to continue. If the people involved in the sport can’t improve things, we will have to quit,” he said. “I understand that we are at a crucial moment where a sport that has been around for 100 years could potentially disappear.”
“I think everyone is working every day with that mindset,” he added.
Japanese boxing authorities are considering a raft of new measures to make the sport safer.
They include urine tests to measure dehydration and stricter rules on boxers’ rapid weight loss.
Dehydration caused by cutting weight rapidly is regarded as a factor in making the brain more susceptible to bleeding, the World Boxing Association said.
Authorities hope to announce concrete plans next month and pledged that “everyone feels a strong sense of urgency,” Yasukochi said.
“When a person dies it’s something that has a big impact,” he said. “If you don’t feel that, then you’re not qualified to be involved in boxing.”
Kotari and Urakawa’s deaths came less than two years after another Japanese boxer, Kazuki Anaguchi, died following a December 2023 bout in Tokyo.
In May, Ginjiro Shigeoka collapsed after a fight in Osaka and underwent brain surgery.
The 25-year-old remains in a coma, but is no longer in a life-threatening condition, the JBC said.
Last week, authorities said that an amateur boxer in Japan had not regained consciousness two weeks after undergoing emergency brain surgery following a sparring session.
Yasukochi said Japanese boxing was “at a crossroads.”
“Some people might say that this is a sport where such accidents can happen, but we can’t afford to think that way,” he said. “These things keep happening and we can’t brush them off as coincidences. We need to investigate the causes and manage the aftermath.”
Nottingham Forest FC are to go into the Europa League play-off round after a 4-0 win over Ferencvaros TC on Thursday, while Celtic FC secured their place in the knockout phase with a victory over FC Utrecht. Aston Villa FC finished second in the league phase after recovering from two goals down to beat FC Red Bull Salzburg 3-2 with their spot in the last 16 already assured. Forest stood an outside chance of climbing into the top eight going into the final round of matches, but needed to beat Robbie Keane’s Ferencvaros and rely on other results going their way. Sean Dyche’s
HEATED RIVALRY: The pair had met 14 times previously, with Sabalenka winning eight of the encounters and entering the final as the favorite to take the title Elena Rybakina took revenge over world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka to win a nail-biting Australian Open final yesterday and clinch her second Grand Slam title. The big-serving Kazakh fifth seed held her nerve to pull through 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne in 2 hours, 18 minutes. It was payback after the Belarusian Sabalenka won the 2023 final between two of the hardest hitters in women’s tennis. The ice-cool Rybakina, 26, who was born in Moscow, adds her Melbourne triumph to her Wimbledon win in 2022. It was more disappointment in a major final for Sabalenka, who won the US Open
Denver superstar Nikola Jokic returned from a 16-game injury absence to post a 31-point, 12-rebound double-double on Friday and propel the Nuggets to a 122-109 NBA victory over the Los Angeles Clippers. Three-time NBA Most Valuable Player Jokic had not played since suffering a bone bruise in the left knee he hyperextended in a game against Miami on Dec. 29 last year. The Serbian big man did not miss a beat. He led all scorers, connecting on eight of 11 shots from the field, and also handed out five assists with three steals while playing just 24 minutes, 32 seconds as the
BATTERED AND BRUISED: Alcaraz suffered a cramp in the third set, but was allowed treatment despite Zverev’s protests, and continued on to win in five-and-a-half hours An ailing Carlos Alcaraz battled past Alexander Zverev yesterday in five epic sets to reach his first Australian Open final and move within a match of becoming the youngest man to complete a career Grand Slam. The world No. 1 outlasted the German third seed 6-4, 7-6 (7/5), 6-7 (3/7), 6-7 (4/7), 7-5 over a titanic 5 hours, 27 minutes in hot conditions to head to tomorrow’s title match. He only narrowly avoided crashing out after a huge fright at 4-4 in the third set when he pulled up in pain with what appeared to be cramp. He was allowed to have treatment
RSS