Two fighters, Shigetoshi Kotari and Hiromasa Urakawa, both 28, died days after competing on the same August 2 card at Tokyo’s Korakuen Hall—an event that has jolted Japanese boxing. Kotari was in his first 12-rounder at junior lightweight; Urakawa, a lightweight, was returning from a close decision loss in an eight-rounder. With two fatalities from the same bill - 16 percent of that night’s participants—the sport faces a reckoning, not a one-off tragedy.
Japan Boxing Commission Secretary-General Tsuyoshi Yasukochi called it a “crucial moment,” warning that if those involved “can’t improve things, we will have to quit.” He stressed the emotional and ethical weight of the situation: anyone who doesn’t feel the impact of a death “is not qualified to be involved in boxing.”
Safety reforms are under urgent review. Authorities are considering urine tests to measure dehydration and stricter rules on rapid weight loss—areas widely linked to increased brain-bleed risk. The aim is to curb dangerous cuts and rehydration practices that leave fighters more vulnerable on fight night.
The August 2 losses arrive less than two years after Kazuki Anaguchi died following a December 2023 bout in Tokyo. Earlier this year, minimumweight Ginjiro Shigeoka collapsed after a fight in Osaka, underwent brain surgery, and remains in a coma—no longer life-threatening, but still a stark reminder. Yasukochi says “everybody feels a strong sense of urgency,” with specific safety improvements expected to be announced in September.
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