Akinobu Hiranaka facts for kids

Akinobu Hiranaka (born Nobuaki Hiranaka on November 14, 1963) is a famous Japanese boxer. He was a world champion in the Light welterweight division. This weight class is also known as Super lightweight or Junior welterweight. In 1992, he won the WBA Junior Welterweight championship. He also competed in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games.

Akinobu Hiranaka was special because he didn't have a lot of money or support from big boxing gyms or TV companies. He had to work hard to get his chance at a world title. He even had to talk to other boxers himself to arrange fights!

A Young Boxer's Journey

Akinobu Hiranaka started boxing when he was young. He won an amateur boxing tournament in high school. He trained at a local gym in Ryukyu. He continued boxing at Nippon University.

Olympic Dream

While at university, he got to fight in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. This was a big achievement for him. He competed in the welterweight category. He won his first fight, but then lost in the second round.

• First round: He got a bye (meaning he didn't have to fight).
• Second round: He lost to Genaro Leon from Mexico.

Akinobu Hiranaka had a great amateur career. He won 37 of his 43 fights by knockout!

Becoming a Pro Boxer

Because of his success as an amateur, many people thought Hiranaka would be a star. He quickly became one of Japan's best boxers in the light welterweight division. In only his fourth professional fight, he won the Japanese light welterweight title. He knocked out his opponent in the sixth round.

Hiranaka became the top-ranked fighter in his division by the WBA. But it was hard for him to get a world title fight. This was because he didn't have much financial support. He had to defend his Japanese title nine times before he finally got a chance to fight for a world title.

First Shot at the World Title

On April 29, 1989, Hiranaka challenged Juan Martin Coggi from Argentina. The fight was in Italy for the WBA title. Hiranaka knocked Coggi down twice in the third round. However, Hiranaka lost the fight by a decision. This was the first loss of his career. Many people thought the decision was unfair. They felt it favored Coggi, even though Hiranaka had knocked him down.

After this loss, Hiranaka still kept his high world ranking. He waited for another chance at the world title. But he had to wait three long years. He didn't even fight at all in 1990.

World Champion!

Hiranaka finally got his second chance in April 1992. He traveled to Mexico City to fight the world champion, Edwin Rosario. Rosario was from Puerto Rico. Hiranaka surprised everyone! He knocked out the champion in only 92 seconds of the first round. He quickly pushed Rosario against the ropes. Then he landed many powerful punches. The referee stopped the fight because Rosario was knocked out while still standing. This fight is still known as the shortest world title match in the light welterweight division.

Losing the Title and Retirement

Even though he became a world champion in an amazing way, Hiranaka lost his title just five months later. He fought Morris East from the Philippines. Hiranaka was winning the fight going into the 11th round. But then he was unexpectedly knocked out by East. This knockout was so shocking that Ring Magazine named it the 1992 Knockout of the Year.

After the fight, doctors found that Hiranaka had a serious head injury. This injury forced him to stop boxing. He had to retire from the sport. His final record was 20 wins, 2 losses, and 0 draws. He had 18 knockouts. He also has the highest knockout percentage of any Japanese world champion boxer, at 90%.

Life After Boxing

After retiring from boxing, Akinobu Hiranaka opened his own gym. It's called the Hiranaka Boxing School Gym in Okinawa. He has taught many people how to box there. The famous K-1 champion Andy Hug even trained at Hiranaka's gym before a big tournament.

See also

• Boxing in Japan
• List of Japanese boxing world champions
• List of world light-welterweight boxing champions