Hikaru Kato and the returning star, Reito Tsutsumi were the MVPs at the All-Japan National Championships
The All Japan National Championships was held in their capital city in Tokyo where eight female and eleven male boxers earned gold medals. The Asian Women’s Championships silver medallist Hikaru Kato and the Youth World Champion Reito Tsutsumi were named as the MVP’s of the National Championships.
The 19-year-old Korin Kokofu and Rui Yamaguchi were the best technical boxers in the All Japan National Championships. The best fighting spirit female award went to Houmi Hori, while among the men, Sesshuu Harada received that trophy. The Sumida-Ward Mayor Award was the last seventh trophy in the national event, and a new elite female boxer, Sarii Kokofu earned that.
Japan competed at the ASBC Asian Elite Boxing Championships and at the World Boxing Cup Finals with top boxers in the previous weeks and the country reached top results on those international competitions.
The first female winner of the All Japan National Championships was Toyo University’s Hikaru Kato, the silver medallist from the 2022 ASBC Asian Women’s Boxing Championships, defeated Non Goshogawa at the women’s minimumweight (48kg) final.
Nippon Sports Science University’s 19-year-old Korin Kokofu, the 2022 Youth World Boxing Championships competitor, joined the elite age group only this year but she was unstoppable for her opponents in Tokyo, including to Seina Adachi in the final.
Toyo University’s next gold medal was achieved by Yuna Nishinaka who had a triumph over the young Miyu Suzuki at the women’s flyweight (52kg) final. Aki Yamazaki (57kg), Minami Takahashi (63kg) and Honda Boxing Gym’s Naoko Kasahara (75kg) were the further female winners in the All Japan National Championships.
Komazawa University’s Rui Yamaguchi had strong pedigree in the high school boxing competitions and he bagged the title of the men’s flyweight (51kg) after beating Kazuki Yuasa in the final.
The 2021 Youth World Champion, the ASBC Asian Youth Champion Reito Tsutsumi returned to the competitions and he won the men’s lightweight (60kg) in Tokyo easily following his triumph over Daimu Fujita in the final. The 22-year-old boxer from the Toyo University is back on track and he could be a highlight in the new Olympic cycle.
Boxers from the Japanese Self-Defence Forces such as Shunsuke Kitamoto (63.5.kg), Yuta Akiyama (67kg) and Rento Tanaka (71kg) all won their weight categories with excellent performances. Sesshuu Harada (57kg), Hibiki Kawabata (75kg) and Tetsuto Nakajima (80kg) are also strong boxers who need to be watched in the future.
All of the Japanese boxers have been preparing hard to the 2026 edition of the Asian Games which will be held in Aichi-Nagoya on home soil.
The list of the winners at the 2024 All Japan National Championships
Women’s 48kg: Hikaru Kato Women’s 50kg: Houmi Hori Women’s 52kg: Yuna Nishinaka Women’s 54kg: Korin Kokofu Women’s 57kg: Aki Yamazaki Women’s 60kg: Sarii Kokofu Women’s 63kg: Minami Takahashi Women’s 75kg: Naoko Kasahara Men’s 48kg: Shodai Kotou Men’s 51kg: Rui Yamaguchi Men’s 54kg: Seijuro Mizoguchi Men’s 57kg: Sesshuu Harada Men’s 60kg: Reito Tsutsumi Men’s 63.5kg: Shunsuke Kitamoto Men’s 67kg: Yuta Akiyama Men’s 71kg: Rento Tanaka Men’s 75kg: Hibiki Kawabata Men’s 80kg: Tetsuto Nakajima Men’s 86kg: Taketo Oono
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