Hozumi Hasegawa

Hozumi Hasegawa
Statistics
Nickname(s)	Ace of Japan
Rated at	Bantamweight Super bantamweight Featherweight
Height
Reach	169.0 cm (67 in) (6 ft)
Nationality	Japanese
Born	(1980-12-16) 16 December 1980 Nishiwaki, Hyōgo, Japan
Stance	Southpaw
Boxing record
Total fights	38
Wins	33
Wins by KO	15
Losses	5

Hozumi Hasegawa (長谷川 穂積, Hasegawa Hozumi, born 16 December 1980) is a Japanese professional boxer. He is a former WBC bantamweight and featherweight champion. Hasegawa received MVP awards from the Japan Boxing Commission in 2005, 2006, 2008 and 2009 for his title defenses, and is the first Japanese boxer to have defended a world bantamweight title over four times.

Boxing career

Born as the second of five children in Nishiwaki, Hyōgo, Hasegawa made his professional debut in 1999. Despite losing two four-round fights by decision early in his career, he defeated Jesse Maca by 12-round decision in 2003 to win the OPBF bantamweight title, which he defended three times before returning the belt on December 20, 2004.

Bantamweight

Hasegawa fought long-time champion Veeraphol Sahaprom on April 16, 2005 at Nippon Budokan. Sahaprom had defended the WBC bantamweight title fifteen times over six years, and had not been defeated for almost a decade. Hasegawa fought effectively, leading the first four rounds, before Sahaprom fought back to win the middle rounds. Sahaprom tired in the later rounds, allowing Hasegawa to become more aggressive, shaking Sahaprom in Round 10. The fight went to a decision, and the judges gave Hasegawa a 3-0 victory, ending Sahaprom's long reign over the bantamweight division.

Hasegawa made his first title defense on September 25, 2005 at Yokohama Arena. Hasegawa was originally scheduled to fight WBC top-ranked contender Diego Morales. However, Morales backed out of the fight due to an injury, and the eighth-ranked contender, Geraldo Martinez, was hastily called up as a substitute. Hasegawa had been sparring with southpaws in preparation to fight Morales, who was a southpaw, but the change to Martinez meant he would now be fighting an orthodox style fighter. Hasegawa took an early lead in the fight, knocking Martinez down twice in the 2nd round (ruled as slips by the referee), and once in the 3rd round. Hasegawa put Martinez down again early in the 7th with a dazzling left straight, and the fight erupted into a massive slugfest between the two fighters. Hasegawa knocked Martinez down two more times in the same round, prompting the referee to stop the fight. Hasegawa marked his first title defense with a TKO victory. This was also the day of his wedding anniversary.

On March 25, 2006, Hasegawa returned to fight in his hometown, Kobe, for the first time after becoming world champion. Hasegawa's opponent for his second title defense was again Veeraphol Sahaprom, who had compiled five consecutive wins to become the top-ranked WBC contender after losing his title to Hasegawa a year ago. It was rumored that Sahaprom had not been in top condition when he lost to Hasegawa, and many speculated that Sahaprom had not fought to the best of his ability in the previous fight. Both fighters started off slowly, but Hasegawa's shots gradually began to land on Sahaprom, and almost knocked out Sahaprom with a powerful left uppercut in the 6th. Sahaprom fought back in the 7th and 8th rounds, landing body shots, but Hasegawa landed a stunning right hook only ten seconds into the 9th round to knock out Sahaprom. Since Hasegawa suffered a left sternal fracture in June 2006, the scheduled defense on July 15 was postponed.

The third title defense took place on November 13, 2006, at Nippon Budokan, where Hasegawa first won the title. The challenger was Mexican fighter Genaro Garcia, ranked 1st in the WBC. Hasegawa knocked Garcia down with a left uppercut in the 4th round, but Garcia showed surprising resilience, landing powerful body shots in the middle rounds. Hasegawa suffered a light cut in the 7th round, which was worsened by a head-butt from Garcia in the 8th. Hasegawa managed to knock down Garcia again in the 8th, though his own face was covered with blood, and his eye was practically sealed shut from the cut. Hasegawa showed able defensive skills to ride out the 12th round, and won with a unanimous 3-0 decision. After the fight, Hasegawa was visited by WBC Super Flyweight Champion Masamori Tokuyama, who gave Hasegawa a hand-written letter challenging him for his bantamweight title. If the fight with Tokuyama had taken place, it would have been a huge match-up between two Japan-based world champions, but Hasegawa declined the offer, wanting to fight non-Japanese challengers instead. Tokuyama retired shortly afterwards.

Hasegawa fought undefeated challenger Simpiwe Vetyeka of South Africa on May 3, 2007, for the fourth defense of his title. Very little was known about the challenger, Vetyeka, except that he had an undefeated record (16-0-0), and had defended the South African bantamweight title five times, winning four of those fights by knockout. He was also said to have compiled an exceptional career in the amateur ring. The fight itself was rather anticlimactic, as there had been huge excitement about the May 3 card, which featured two other world title matchups. Both Hasegawa and Vetyeka wanted to land counter punches, leading to a great deal of inactivity from both sides. Neither fighter seemed willing to expose themselves, and few hard punches were thrown in the early rounds of the fight. The open scoring system was used in the fight, and Hasegawa was leading in the judges' scorecards going into the later rounds, but Vetyeka continued to lay back and wait for Hasegawa to attack. Hasegawa finally stepped up to decisively win the final two rounds, and won his fourth defense with a unanimous decision. There was some frustration after the fight, because both Hasegawa and Vetyeka complained that one of the advertisements in the middle of the ring was causing their feet to slip. This was the first world title defense where Hasegawa was unable to knock down his opponent in the fight.

Hasegawa (on the right) with his trainer and manager Yamashita, during a visit to earthquake stricken Yamamoto, Miyagi, in May 2011. Their motto is "Where there is a will, there is a way". Hasegawa has sometimes uttered that belief. It is also the name of his autobiography, Ishi dōtaku (意志道拓), written in Japanese.

Hasegawa defended his title for the fifth time on January 10, 2008 with a 12-round unanimous decision victory against top-ranked WBC contender Simone Maludrottu. Hasegawa had transferred to the newly established Shinsei Boxing Gym in Kobe along with its founder and his trainer, Masato Yamashita, during the 8-month layoff since his last defense. Despite suffering a cut above his right eye early in the fight, Hasegawa dominated the fight to win by unanimous decision. This made him the first Japanese boxer to have defended a bantamweight world title over four times.

He defended it again for the sixth time, defeating Venezuela's Cristian Faccio with a 2nd round TKO on June 12, 2008.

Hasegawa fought on October 16, 2008 where he defended his title for the 7th time by taking on Mexican prospect Alejandro Valdez. Hasegawa won the fight by technical knockout in the second round.

His 8th title defense was a lot more impressive as he stopped Vusi Malinga in a single round on March 12, 2009.

He defended it again for the 9th time, defeating USA's Nestor Rocha with a 1st round TKO on July 14, 2009.

He defended his title for the tenth time by knocking out Alvaro Perez on December 12, 2009.

Title run comes to an end

On April 30, 2010, Hasegawa challenged WBO 118-pound champion Fernando Montiel of Mexico. Although Montiel holds a title in the same division, it was not on the line because of JBC policy. At the bout, Hasegawa won the first three rounds, frustrating the Mexican visitor. In the fourth round Montiel managed to land an attack on Hasegawa, leaving the hometown fighter vulnerable for more blows. The referee declared an end and this was Hasegawa's first knockout loss. Aside from losing the match and the title, Hasegawa also suffered a shattered jaw. The injury was caused not by Montiel's barrage of attacks in the 4th round but by an impact Hasegawa took in the 1st.

Featherweight

Following the bout with Montiel, Hasegawa went up two weight divisions and fight Juan Carlos Burgos for the vacant WBC featherweight crown on November 26, 2010 and won the WBC Featherweight Championship. Hasegawa was nominated as return of the year for the Best of 2010 awards by WBC, but was granted the most dramatic fight of the year for the match against Fernando Montiel, after all.

After being dethroned by Jhonny González in April 2011, Hasegawa hired a new trainer Frankie Liles in November 2011, in addition to his long-time trainer Yamashita, and has intensely trained with them.

Hasegawa was slated to make his return to the ring against the undefeated Mexican featherweight Carlos Felipe Felix on December 17, 2011. However, a broken right rib that he sustained during training caused the bout to be postponed until April 6, 2012. He stopped the opponent in the seventh round in that comeback appearance.

Super bantamweight

In October 2012, it was announced that Hasegawa would move down a weight division to super bantamweight in his next fight in December. He defeated Arturo Santos Reyes via a unanimous decision in Kobe on December 22, 2012. Hasegawa told that he had needed two years after winning the featherweight title to recapture his early style. He had suffered from lack of motivation to continue fighting during the two years after the death of his dearest mother and the tragedy of the aftermath of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan.

Hasegawa faced Genaro Camargo in a bout in Tokyo on August 12, 2013. He won by TKO in the first round.

Hasegawa fought for the IBF Super Bantamweight title against reigning champion Kiko Martinez on April 23, 2014 in Osaka. In what many thought to be the last fight in the colorful career of Hasegawa, a back and fourth contest erupted, with the Spaniard's one punch knockout power being the deciding factor as he urged a referee stoppage in 7th round following a brutal attack on his Japanese foe.

Following the Martinez bout, there were calls by many for Hasegawa to retire, as it seemed he was no longer the fighter he once was. However, Hasegawa returned to the ring on May 9, 2015 in Kobe against undefeated Mexican Horacio Garcia. He won the fight comfortably via UD over 10 rounds.

Professional Record

33 Wins (15 knockouts, 18 decisions), 5 Losses, 0 Draws
Res.	Record	Opponent	Type	Rd., Time	Date	Location	Notes
Win	34-5	Horacio Garcia	UD	10 (10)	2015-5-09	Kobe, Japan
Loss	33-5	Kiko Martinez	TKO	7 (12), 1:20	2014-4-23	Osaka, Japan	For IBF super bantamweight title.
Win	33-4	Genaro Camargo	TKO	1 (12), 2:32	2013-8-12	Tokyo, Japan
Win	32-4	Veerapol Sor Chantasith	KO	3 (10)	2013-4-26	Kobe, Japan
Win	31-4	Arturo Santos Reyes	UD	10 (10)	2012-12-22	Kobe, Japan
Win	30-4	Felipe Carlos Felix	TKO	7 (12), 2:28	2012-4-6	Tokyo, Japan
Loss	29-4	Jhonny González	TKO	4 (12), 0:58	2011-04-08	Kobe, Japan	Lost the WBC featherweight title.
Win	29-3	Juan Carlos Burgos	UD	12 (12)	2010-11-26	Nagoya, Japan	Won vacant WBC featherweight title.
Loss	28-3	Fernando Montiel	TKO	4 (12), 2:59	2010-04-30	Tokyo, Japan	Lost WBC bantamweight title. For WBO bantamweight title.
Win	28-2	Alvaro Perez	TKO	4 (12), 2:38	2009-12-18	Kobe, Japan	Retained WBC bantamweight title.
Win	27-2	Nestor Rocha	TKO	1 (12), 2:28	2009-07-14	Kobe, Japan	Retained WBC bantamweight title.
Win	26-2	Vusi Malinga	TKO	1 (12), 2:37	2009-03-12	Kobe, Japan	Retained WBC bantamweight title.
Win	25-2	Alejandro Valdez	TKO	2 (12), 2:41	2008-10-16	Tokyo, Japan	Retained WBC bantamweight title.
Win	24-2	Cristian Faccio	TKO	2 (12), 2:l8	2008-06-12	Tokyo, Japan	Retained WBC bantamweight title.
Win	23-2	Simone Maludrottu	UD	12 (12)	2008-01-10	Osaka, Japan	Retained WBC bantamweight title.
Win	22-2	Simpiwe Vetyeka	UD	12 (12)	2007-05-03	Tokyo, Japan	Retained WBC bantamweight title.
Win	21-2	Genaro Garcia	UD	12 (12)	2006-11-13	Tokyo, Japan	Retained WBC bantamweight title. Garcia was knocked down in the fourth and sixth rounds.
Win	20-2	Veeraphol Sahaprom	TKO	9 (12), 0:19	2006-03-25	Kobe, Japan	Rematch. Retained WBC bantamweight title.
Win	19-2	Gerardo Martinez	TKO	7 (12), 2:18	2005-09-25	Yokohama, Japan	Retained WBC bantamweight title. Martinez was knocked down once in the third round and three times in the seventh round.
Win	18-2	Veeraphol Sahaprom	UD	12 (12)	2005-04-16	Tokyo, Japan	Won WBC bantamweight title. Hasegawa ends Sahaprom's streak of 15 straight title defenses. Hasegawa becomes the first person to defeat Sahaprom him since 1996.
Win	17-2	Jun Toriumi	UD	10 (10)	2004-10-30	Tokyo, Japan
Win	16-2	Norasing Kietprasanchai	UD	12 (12)	2004-05-23	Kobe, Japan	Retained OPBF bantamweight title.
Win	15-2	Dechsayarm Sithpordam	UD	10 (10)	2004-02-15	Osaka, Japan
Win	14-2	Alvin Felicilda	TKO	10 (12), 1:20	2003-11-09	Kobe, Japan	Retained OPBF bantamweight title.
Win	13-2	Sunao Uno	SD	12 (12)	2003-07-20	Gifu, Japan	Retained OPBF bantamweight title.
Win	12-2	Jess Maca	SD	12 (12)	2003-05-18	Kobe, Japan	Won OPBF bantamweight title.
Win	11-2	Naphdetsh Soonkilanoynai	UD	10 (10)	2003-03-02	Akashi, Japan
Win	10-2	Ryuichi Minoriyama	UD	10 (10)	2002-10-27	Kobe, Japan	Minoriyama was knocked down twice during the fight.
Win	9-2	Toshinobu Nakatani	UD	10 (10)	2002-08-24	Osaka, Japan
Win	8-2	Pornchai Sithpraprom	TKO	6 (10), 0:50	2002-04-21	Kobe, Japan	Sithpraprom was knocked down twice in the first round and once in the sixth round.
Win	7-2	Gamwonwan Sithsobha	KO	2 (8), 1:16	2002-02-03	Osaka, Japan
Win	6-2	Hisami Kitahara	UD	6 (6)	2001-10-21	Kobe, Japan
Win	5-2	Takashi Taketazu	UD	6 (6)	2001-08-17	Amagasaki, Japan
Win	4-2	Yoshihiro Yoshioka	KO	1 (4), 2:13	2001-07-07	Osaka, Japan
Loss	3-2	Masamitsu Arakawa	SD	4 (4)	2001-05-20	Kobe, Japan
Win	3-1	Yoshinori Terada	UD	4 (4)	2001-01-28	Takasago, Japan
Loss	2-1	Takashi Taketazu	UD	4 (4)	2000-07-30	Osaka, Japan
Win	2-0	Hideki Ishizuka	TKO	2 (4), 1:59	2000-04-28	Kobe, Japan
Win	1-0	Shuichi Kuroiwa	UD	4 (4)	1999-11-22	Kobe, Japan

See also

• List of WBC world champions
• List of bantamweight boxing champions

External links

• Professional boxing record for Hozumi Hasegawa from BoxRec
• - A concise description about Hozumi Hasegawa.

Preceded by Veeraphol Sahaprom	WBC Bantamweight Champion April 16, 2005 – April 30, 2010	Succeeded by Fernando Montiel
Vacant Title last held by Elio Rojas	WBC Featherweight Champion November 26, 2010 – April 8, 2011	Succeeded by Jhonny González