Tsuboi, Nishiyama and Wakaya won the key weight categories at the All Japan National Championships
The male finals of the All Japan Elite National Championships delivered several tight contests at the Sumida Ward General Gymnasium in Tokyo.
Japan’s next generation boxers who shined in the previous youth and U22 competitions, proved their development in the National Championships. The event was the selection for the 1st World Olympic Boxing Qualification Tournament which will be held in Busto Arsizio, Italy from February 29 in 2024.
The 2021 Men’s Elite World Champion Sewon Okazawa (71kg) and their new featherweight (57kg) boxer in the national team Shudai Harada have already qualified for the Paris 2024 Olympics through the Asian Games therefore they missed the National Championships.
Japan’s second World Champion from 2021, Tomoya Tsuboi was one of the stars in the National Championships and he bagged the gold medal at the men’s flyweight (51kg). The 27-year-old boxer was too experienced and quick for Soushi Makino and he won this final bout by unanimous decision.
Miyazaki’s Shion Nishiyama shocked the Asian Games competitor veteran Yuta Akiyama in the semi-finals of the light welterweight (63.5kg) stopping his rival in the second round. Nishiyama had a harder job in the final against Junsuke Kitamoto but he had the great finish to win this important weight class in Tokyo.
Saitama’s Yuito Moriwaki was Olympian boxer in Tokyo two and half years ago and he moved up to the light heavyweight (80kg) to give himself a chance to represent Japan in the next Qualifier. The 27-year-old boxer won his semi-final by RSC but he suffered a loss to a younger talent, Go Wakaya in the final by 3:2 split decision.
Keita Nakayama (57kg) and Okinawa’s Nobuhiro Hiranaka (71kg) won the remaining Olympic weight categories in the absence of Harada and Okazawa. Both of them won their final contests over promising rivals by split decisions. One of the stars of the featherweight (57kg), the former ASBC Asian Junior Champion Daiya Kira was eliminated already in the quarter-finals in Tokyo.
Kazuma Aratake is one of the bests minimumweight (48kg) boxers in the Asian continent but he had a hard battle against Shodai Koto in the final of the division. Another experienced international boxer, the 2017 ASBC Asian Junior Champion Sora Tanaka used his impressive power to beat Masataka Someya in the final of the welterweight (67kg).
Shogo Tanaka represented Japan in the 2022 ASBC Asian Elite Boxing Championships and he bagged the gold medal at the bantamweight (54kg) after beating Hijiri Oka in the final. Sota Nakayama (60kg), the former Youth World Championships competitor Daigo Sunaga (75kg) and Ryuichi Ueno (86kg) won the remaining gold medals in Tokyo.
The list of the male winners at the All Japan National Championships
48kg: Kazuma Aratake
51kg: Tomoya Tsuboi
54kg: Shogo Tanaka
57kg: Keita Nakayama
60kg: Sota Nakayama
63.5kg: Shion Nishiyama
67kg: Sora Tanaka
71kg: Nobuhiro Hiranaka
75kg: Daigo Sunaga
80kg: Go Wakaya
86kg: Ryuichi Ueno
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