Akihiko Honda

Akihiko Honda (本田 明彦, Honda Akihiko, born September 9, 1947) is a Japanese professional boxing promoter who was inducted into the World Boxing Hall of Fame in 2008, and was also selected as an inductee into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2009.[1]

Akihiko Honda
Japanese: 本田 明彦[1]
Born (1947-09-09) September 9, 1947[2]
NationalityJapan
Alma materRikkyo University (graduated in 1969)[2][3]
OccupationBoxing promoter[2]
Years active1964–present[2]
OrganizationTeiken Promotions[2]
Known forPromotion of the two Mike Tyson fights against Tony Tubbs[4] and James Douglas[5][2][3]
Promoting boxers such as Masao Ōba, Jirō Watanabe, Genaro Hernández, Eloy Rojas, Jorge Linares, Edwin Valero and Román González among others[2]
Notable work
Hozumi Hasegawa vs. Fernando Montiel,[6] Nonito Donaire vs. Toshiaki Nishioka,[7] Nihito Arakawa vs. Omar Figueroa,[8] etc.
TelevisionWorld Premium Boxing[9] on Nippon Television[2]
Excite Match[10] on WOWOW[2]
Parent(s)Akira Honda (father)[2]
AwardsInternational Boxing Hall of Fame[2]
WebsiteTEIKEN.COM

1964 to 1990s

Honda has served as the president of the Teiken Promotions and Teiken Boxing Gym in Tokyo, Japan since 1964.[2] Honda's motto "Pro Deo et Patria" implying "for God and Country" in Latin phrase is also that of Rikkyo University (also known as St. Paul's University) which Teiken Boxing Gym's founder Sadayuki Ogino and Honda graduated from.[3] At the age of twenty-two in 1970, Honda guided Masao Ōba to the world title, and later promoted the two of Mike Tyson's fights in 1988 and 1990.[5][4][2][3] He also realized the first world title tripleheader in Japan in 1998.[11]

Further information: Teiken Boxing Gym § Late 20th century

In the 1990s, in addition to the world title fights of Genaro Hernández,[2] Jose Luis Bueno,[12] Eloy Rojas[2] et al., Honda staged the fights of Yūichi Kasai (including his world title clash), Jōichirō Tatsuyoshi et al. in the United States.[13] In 1999, Honda who was asked what to do to improve Japan's professional boxing responded as follows:

  1. First and foremost, making good boxers. Good cards are unable to be made without them.
  2. Raising awareness to consider boxing as an intellectual sport and to evaluate the technical aspects.
  3. Educating trainers.
  4. Creating an environment where boxers' efforts will be rewarded.
  5. Official announcements of the match fees for that.
  6. In addition, increasing the value of the Japanese titles.
— Akihiko Honda, 我がボクシング改革論, Nippon Sports Publishing Co., Ltd.[14]

2000s to 2010s

While making contributions to those issues over years, Honda worked on the world title fights of Cesar Bazan (since the 1990s), Edwin Valero[2] et al. in the 2000s. In July 2007, he sent Jorge Linares to Las Vegas, Nevada, to successfully fight for and win his first world title.[15] He became the Japan's eighth world champion to be crowned across the sea.[16] In April 2010, Honda arranged the de facto unification match Hozumi Hasegawa vs. Fernando Montiel.[6] At that time, Montiel's WBO title was not at stake under the policies of the Japan Boxing Commission.[17] Hasegawa had wished to move to the featherweight division from more than two months ago, but he asked Honda to negotiate saying that he wanted to fight against Montiel even if his match fee would decline (Honda actually did not do it though).[6][18] The Japan's oldest surviving boxing journal Boxing Magazine placed that fight as the best card in Japan's boxing history as of April 2010.[19] Montiel received the second highest purse following Mike Tyson among the world champions fought in Japan.[20]

Honda-promoted Akifumi Shimoda, who was the tenth Japanese boxer to risk his world championship belt outside Japan, lost his world title at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City in July 2011. Then Honda promoted the world title doubleheader headlined by Toshiaki Nishioka vs. Rafael Márquez at the MGM Grand Marquee Ballroom[21] in Las Vegas in association with Top Rank and Zanfer Promotions in October 2011.[22] Román González promoted by Honda[2] also made his United States debut on that card aired live on Fox Sports Net/Deportes,[23] Japan's WOWOW,[22] and Mexico's TV Azteca.[24] The realization of that card owes much to a trust relationship with Bob Arum,[25] the support of WOWOW which celebrated the twentieth anniversary at that time, and the popularity of Márquez.[26] Nishioka's defense in the United States was planned from around 2009.[27] Although Japan's professional boxing has some negative background, that was an aggressive overseas expansion in order to get higher status as a world champion.[28] Honda made Nishioka the first Japanese boxer who defended the world title in the United States.[21] That victory broke the sense of stagnation of Japan's professional boxing and gave it a hope.[29]

See also: Boxing in Japan

In addition to above mentioned Ōba, Nishioka and Linares, Honda has so far promoted Jirō Watanabe (Osaka Teiken Boxing Gym), Tsuyoshi Hamada,[1] Genaro Hernandez, Eloy Rojas, Edwin Valero, Jorge Linares, Román González et al.[2] He currently manages Jorge Linares, Takahiro Aō, Akifumi Shimoda, Shinsuke Yamanaka, Toshiyuki Igarashi, Takashi Miura, Yoshihiro Kamegai, Ryōta Murata et al.[30] His long-time ambition is to promote mega-fights in the United States,[31] and he also desires to bring up successful boxers who are able to be elected to the Hall of Fame, as a man who works backstage.[1][3]

References
  1. Makoto Maeda (January 6, 2009). 名門ジム会長が果たした日本人3人目の殿堂入り。 (in Japanese). Number (Bungeishunju). Retrieved October 6, 2011.
  2. "Akihiko Honda". International Boxing Hall of Fame. Retrieved October 6, 2011.
  3. Hisao Adachi (June 28, 2010). "Matsuda ante Soh este sábado en Tokio" (in Spanish). NotiFight.com. Retrieved October 6, 2011.
  4. McNeil 2014, pp. 219–220.
  5. Johnson & Long 2008, pp. 9, 46.
  6. Isao Hara (May 1, 2010). 負けても恥じることない、長谷川穂積の勇気。 (in Japanese). Sportiva (Shueisha). Archived from the original on April 25, 2012. Retrieved October 6, 2011.
  7. Daisuke Sugiura (October 16, 2012). ボクシング西岡が切り開いた「本物の世界」. Nihon Keizai Shimbun (in Japanese). p. 3. Retrieved July 7, 2013.,
  8. "Jesus Soto Karass knocks out Andre Berto; Omar Figueroa & Nihito Arakawa steal the show in a brutal slugfest". PhilBoxing.com. July 29, 2013. Retrieved November 20, 2013.
  9. ワールドプレミアムボクシング – 日本テレビ (in Japanese). Nippon Television. Retrieved July 7, 2013.
  10. エキサイトマッチ〜世界プロボクシング (in Japanese). WOWOW. Retrieved July 7, 2013.
  11. "Boxing Records – Sunday 23 August 1998; Arena, Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan". BoxRec.com. Retrieved October 6, 2011.
  12. Igor Frank (October 9, 2008). "Akihiko Honda Transcends Boxing Into a Global Sport". 411mania.com. Archived from the original on October 7, 2012. Retrieved March 31, 2011.
  13. Boxing Beat editorial department (June 15, 2011). MACC Publications Inc (ed.). 帝拳ジムの海外進出戦略. Ironman. Boxing Beat (in Japanese). Tokyo, Japan: Fitness Sports Co., Ltd. (special issue): 17.
  14. Toshiki Sunohara (April 27, 1999). 我がボクシング改革論. World Boxing (in Japanese). Tokyo, Japan: Nippon Sports Publishing Co., Ltd. (special issue): 14.
  15. Sebastián Contursi (July 27, 2007). "Camino al estrellato" (in Spanish). ESPN. Retrieved November 12, 2011.
  16. Isao Hara (June 2, 2010). 日本人の海外挑戦30連敗. Nikkan Sports (in Japanese). Retrieved November 12, 2011.
  17. Ronnie Nathanielsz (April 29, 2010). "WBC vs. WBO Rift Over Hasegawa-Montiel Involvement". BoxingScene.com. Retrieved April 14, 2012.
  18. Baseball Magazine Sha 2010, p. 10.
  19. Baseball Magazine Sha 2010, p. 5.
  20. Daisuke Yamaguchi (May 6, 2010). "衝撃のTKO負け　王者・長谷川はなぜ敗れたか". Nihon Keizai Shimbun (in Japanese). p. 1. Retrieved November 20, 2011.
  21. German Villasenor (October 4, 2011). "German's Weekend Report". Max Boxing. Retrieved October 6, 2011.
  22. Dan Rafael (October 3, 2011). "Martinez gets the job done – Toshiaki Nishioka W12 Rafael Marquez". ESPN. Retrieved October 6, 2011.
  23. Marty Mulcahey (September 30, 2011). "The Weekend TV Cheat Sheet Part One". Max Boxing. Retrieved October 6, 2011.
  24. Ryan Burton (October 3, 2011). "Marco Antonio Barrera: One More, Not Rios or Morales". BoxingScene.com. Retrieved October 6, 2011.
  25. Isao Hara 2011, p. 2 "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-10-07. Retrieved 2011-10-06.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  26. Daisuke Yamaguchi (September 30, 2011). ボクシング・西岡、本場ラスベガスで王者のファイト. Nihon Keizai Shimbun (in Japanese). p. 2. Retrieved October 6, 2011.
  27. 王座初防衛から一夜…西岡に「米国進出のススメ」. Sports Nippon (in Japanese). January 5, 2009. Archived from the original on January 27, 2016. Retrieved October 6, 2011.
  28. Isao Hara 2011, p. 1 "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-10-07. Retrieved 2011-10-06.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  29. Jun Shibuya (October 3, 2011). 西岡利晃がアメリカで大スターに!?　ラスベガスの聖地で勝った意味とは。 (in Japanese). Number (Bungeishunju). p. 1. Retrieved October 6, 2011.
  30. 選手プロフィール (in Japanese). Teiken.com. Retrieved July 7, 2013.
  31. Makoto Maeda (August 23, 2007). 新王者リナレスを生んだ帝拳の海外戦略とは。 (in Japanese). Number (Bungeishunju). Retrieved October 6, 2011.

Bibliography
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