Is boxing BIG in japan???

[Mr. Fantastic]

Yea there was a boxing match between Kameda and someone else that drew over 20m people to watch it. Also Mike Tyson back in the day fought there, think that's where he lost to Douglas.

I might be wrong...just off the top of my head.

[Cloud]

Baseball is the top sport. MMA was huge when Pride was around but id say the MMA boom has died down now. The K-1 boom too.

They love combat sports though and Boxing and Sumo are huge.

Actually, Sumo can be very entertaining even though it doesnt look that entertaining. Lot more skill involved than you'd think.

[RSBonos]

For whatever it's worth it is doing better then MMA and K-1 now and some rare matches like Kameda-Naito draw monster ratings (near 50 million).

[GreyFox]

Boxing is obviously not as popular as baseball and soccer but it's bigger than MMA and K-1.

[intoccabile]

Most loved sport in Japan? Football ( soccer) and Baseball.Combat sports in this order:1, Sumo. 2. Mma 3. Boxing etc.

DREAM hardly gets any events nowdays and Pride is gone. K1 isn't MMA, it's Kickboxing, and outside of the grand prix doesn't get near as much love as boxing is TODAY.

Boxing is actually growing larger than ever in Japan right now and I have n oidea why, if anyone knows, fill me in?

But it still pales in comparison to the love they have for baseball.

[UglyPug]

ive been saying ever since i got into boxing that i thought japan had a cool boxing scene. . . they have a lot of talent from straw weight all the way up to 130ish. . .

lots of talent. . . it seems as of late a few of their top fighters are venturing over to USA to get HBO/Showtime slots. . . i respect them for coming into foreign territory to put up their straps. . . hope the trend continues and the champs keep coming over to showcase their skills on USA television. . not because "they have to" to prove themselves, but just because i want to see them. .

a lot of noobs still believe that if you don't box in USA, you aren't worthy. . . those days are long gone. . . boxing is a true international sport now.

[Light_Speed]

Any reason they dont get recognation in real life???

Simple : they rarely fight outside of Japan and almost never outside of Asia. Nishioka, Ishida and Shimoda are recent exceptions which shows there's a new trend among japanese boxers of venturing out of their comfort zone to test themselves against worldclass competition.

a lot of noobs still believe that if you don't box in USA, you aren't worthy. . . those days are long gone. . . boxing is a true international sport now.

It's definitely an international sport but the biggest networks and promoters are still in the US so that's where the best fighters in the world decide to compete, regardless of their nationality.

[Kagami Taiga]

theres a few reasons japanses fighters rarely fight outside of japan. one is that they dont need to. they are primarily in the lower weights where most americans dont compete. so chances of them getting american money are slim to none, which is cool because they get great tv dates and crowds across japan. the other is only two organizations are recognized in japan, the wbc and the wba. the ibf and the wbo are not. so that limits the chances they have of fighting some of the other fighters for belts. u will more likely find a japanese fighting in mexico than in japan honestly.

[GoogleMe]

It's pretty big and a growing sport.

[shadeyfizzle]

The funny thing about boxing in japan compared to anywhere else is that you'll have thousands of people in a stadium going crazy but when the fight starts go completely silent no matter how entertaining the fight is. Then erupt once the fight is over.

Only place in the world i've ever seen that.