Keita Kurihara

Professional Career

 

Keita Kurihara began his professional career on April 6, 2011, with a first-round TKO against Yoshiyuki Shimizu at the Korakuen Hall. He continued his early success by securing another TKO victory against Yohei Suzuki later that year. Despite his promising start, Kurihara faced challenges, including a unanimous decision loss to Koya Sato in January 2012 and a TKO loss to Takahiro Fujii in July of the same year. However, Kurihara demonstrated resilience by bouncing back with a knockout victory against Takuma Okada in November 2012. Over the next few years, he continued to build his career, securing wins against opponents such as Hirofumi Tachibana and Yuito Yamaguchi.

 

Kurihara’s career trajectory took a significant turn in 2018 when he captured the vacant Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation (OPBF) Bantamweight title by defeating Yuki Strong Kobayashi via unanimous decision. He successfully defended his OPBF title with a series of victories, including a knockout win against Warlito Parrenas in 2019. However, he encountered a major setback in January 2021 when he lost the title to Takuma Inoue via a technical decision. Undeterred, Kurihara reclaimed the OPBF Bantamweight title in October 2021 by defeating Kazuki Nakajima with a third-round TKO. Despite facing a draw against Yukinori Oguni in May 2022 and a loss to Kai Chiba later that year, he continued to persevere. Kurihara avenged his loss to Chiba in March 2023, regaining the OPBF Bantamweight title with a second-round TKO.

 

Kurihara’s career highlights include his fierce rivalry with Froilan Saludar. After losing to Saludar via a first-round TKO in October 2023, Kurihara made a remarkable comeback by defeating Saludar in January 2024, winning the IBF Pan Pacific Bantamweight and reclaiming the OPBF Bantamweight titles.