The Ring traces Japan's boxing legacy from Shirai to Inoue

The Ring Magazine has cataloged nearly a century of Japanese boxing, tracing the nation's rise from postwar curiosity to championship factory. The archive runs from a 1936 article about a ship captain who predicted Japanese fighters would fail all the way through Naoya Inoue's first cover appearance in 2019.

Yoshio Shirai broke through in August 1952 as Japan's first world champion, earning a feature titled "Boxing Mikado" and later receiving the Ring belt in a ceremony documented with a letter from his manager. Fighting Harada followed a decade later, stopping Pone Kingpetch in what Boxing Commission Chairman Manabe called "the most exciting boxing match ever staged in Japan." Harada later beat Eder Jofre so badly the Brazilian considered retirement.

Gushiken and Ishimatsu carried the torch through the 1970s

Guts Ishimatsu appeared in fight reports starting in 1969 and pushed Roberto Duran before losing his 1973 title shot. Kuniaki Shibata won belts at featherweight and junior lightweight. Yoko Gushiken made 13 defenses at junior flyweight between 1977 and 1981. A 1993 feature rated Harada the best Japanese fighter in history.

Inoue entered the picture in July 2013 as an unrated prospect "on the way up" and made his first Ring cover in February 2019 with the headline "Man on Fire." A May 2018 story called "Rising Sons" grouped him with Daigo Higa, Kenshiro Teraji, Kosei Tanaka, Hiroto Kyoguchi and Ryuya Yamanaka as the new generation. Francisco Vargas versus Takashi Miura in 2015 marked the first time a Japanese fighter appeared in Fight of the Year.

Inoue stopped Jamie McDonnell in one round at bantamweight in September 2018 and earned Fighter of the Month honors. He returned to the cover that September with art by manga creator George Morikawa.

Source: ringmagazine.com