Comments Thread For: War Arakawa: Five Great Japanese Imports for the West

[crold1]

I agree with a lot of your points but the Japanese guys listed have already beaten some of the top names in their divisions yet don't get the recognition they deserve, which is sad because lesser fighters from American or Mexican backgrounds are fighting regularly on US TV and getting undue praise. Uchiyama is clearly one of the best lower weight fighters out there and hits as hard as hell. I really want to see him get the recognition he deserves before he retires.

Travel is not a prerequisite to beating top guys. It helps sometimes but, in the lower weights, it is often Japan where the money is (and fighters travel there often) and recognition for a Japanese Jr. Bantam or Fly in the US will be fleeting at best. It's tougher on history (trying to sort out the best in eras so geographically split) than the market which is pretty clear usually.

[bogoindian]

Travel is not a prerequisite to beating top guys. It helps sometimes but, in the lower weights, it is often Japan where the money is (and fighters travel there often) and recognition for a Japanese Jr. Bantam or Fly in the US will be fleeting at best. It's tougher on history (trying to sort out the best in eras so geographically split) than the market which is pretty clear usually.

Yes, smaller fighters often get paid more in Japan. But, what if a fighter is not satisfied with just getting money? Nishioka could have stayed in Japan, but he decided to leave his home country to be inarguably the best of the division. To get recognition, one should beat “well-known” fighters, and it sometimes doesn’t matter whether these “well-known” guys are actually good or not. Uchiyama is good and his resume is not that inferior to Nishioka’s, but even a very good fighter like Uchiyama remains unknown and unrecognized without beating someone well-known.

To get true recognition, to be inducted into the HOF, one should beat well-known fighters and some of them never come to Japan, especially if they weigh more than 122.

[crold1]

Yes, smaller fighters often get paid more in Japan. But, what if a fighter is not satisfied with just getting money? Nishioka could have stayed in Japan, but he decided to leave his home country to be inarguably the best of the division. To get recognition, one should beat “well-known” fighters, and it sometimes doesn’t matter whether these “well-known” guys are actually good or not. Uchiyama is good and his resume is not that inferior to Nishioka’s, but even a very good fighter like Uchiyama remains unknown and unrecognized without beating someone well-known.

To get true recognition, to be inducted into the HOF, one should beat well-known fighters and some of them never come to Japan, especially if they weigh more than 122.

Nishioka and Uchiyama are in divisions where more of the top talent is abroad. I'm talking lower classes where often more of the talent is in broader Asia and Japan proper. Less need to travel for those.

[sugar555]

Nishioka and Uchiyama are in divisions where more of the top talent is abroad. I'm talking lower classes where often more of the talent is in broader Asia and Japan proper. Less need to travel for those.

Ioka kazuto makes about 500,000 to 600,000$ per fight now and he has what 12 fights 3 time world champ former unified champ wtf is this? Boxing doesnt make money my a$s lower weights get no attention BS!
Uchiyama takashi makes according to sources 300,000$ per fight now but he is not as popular as ioka but still pretty good money
Kameda koki makes 400,000$ per fight is what i heard
The most money ever to be earned by japanese fighter what yakushiji yasuei he made about 3,000,000$ on his fight with tatsuyoshi joichiro this had one of the highest viewer percentages ever 45% i think it was thats almost half of japan watching one fight.
Gushiken yoko made 300,000$ per fight
Guts ishimatsu made 700,000$ in his highest paying fight
Takehara shinji the only japanese middleweight champ could he have made two more title defenses he would have made guaranteed millions.
Wajima koichi back in the day made 750,000$ but convert that to todays money its over a million
So going to america makes no sense because of the amount of good cash they earn in japan yes nishioka made some good money fighting donaire and marquez but could he have made more in japan absolutely.
But alot of posters on this forum say that you got to come to america to prove yourself but whats the point when divisions like flyweight dont get attention and dont sell anyway might as well go to macau. And in america boxing is a declining sport countrys like Britain and most of europe you could get more attention. Boxing in japan at one point was at a low because of the k1 era but k1 died after 2008 but boxing its still one of the top sports in japan.
Baseball
Soccer
Boxing/sumo
Everything else follows after these four.

[bogoindian]

Nishioka and Uchiyama are in divisions where more of the top talent is abroad. I'm talking lower classes where often more of the talent is in broader Asia and Japan proper. Less need to travel for those.

You are right. As you said, fighters below flyweight don’t have to travel because they probably get paid most in Japan.
In the US, not so many are highly regarded below flyweight (for example, Darchinyan in his prime, Mark Johnson, or Ricardo Lopez), so the best possible career for Japanese smaller fighters is just beating good fighters in Japan and getting paid, unless they have a chance to face the few elite guys and are willing to do so.

[teddycanyon]

there should be no impediment to one of the Kameda brothers fighting Yamanaka, hopefully that happens soon. Also maybe Uchiyama vs. Arakawa if Arakawa can make 130!

[Hougigo]

Man, at the very least I hope they try and put them on a Macau card so people can see them

[LaBéstia]

Good article... Hope to se Arakawa again soon!

[Kagami Taiga]

Man, at the very least I hope they try and put them on a Macau card so people can see them

Chances are they don't wanna fight in Macau. They make plenty in Japan. Much more than most fighters outside of the us.

[sdcluser]

Chances are they don't wanna fight in Macau. They make plenty in Japan. Much more than most fighters outside of the us.

anyone got valid link for the whole fight? thanx