Fighting Harada

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Fighting Harada
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Statistics
Real name Masahiko Harada
Nickname(s) Fighting
Rated at <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
Height 5 ft. 3 in.
Reach 64 in (163 cm).
Born (1943-04-05) April 5, 1943 (age 81)
Tokyo, Japan
Stance Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights 62
Wins 55
Wins by KO 22
Losses 7

Masahiko Harada (born April 5, 1943), better known as Fighting Harada, is a Japanese former professional boxer. He is a world champion in two weight classes, having held the NYSAC, WBA, and The Ring undisputed flyweight titles from 1962 to 1963 and the WBA, WBC, and The Ring undisputed bantamweight titles from 1965 and 1968. He is currently the president of the Japanese boxing association.

Harada was arguably one of Japan's most popular boxers; his fame reached international status, and Puerto Rico's Wilfredo Gómez declared that Harada was his idol as a child.[1] Harada was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1995. In 2002, he was ranked as the 32nd greatest boxer of the past 80 years by Ring magazine.[2]

Biography

Harada began fighting as a professional on February 21, 1960, knocking out Isami Masui in round four, in Tokyo. He won his first twenty four bouts. Among the notables he beat during that span were Ken Morita, who later became a respected boxing official and who was beaten by Harada on June 26 in the first round, and future world champion Hiroyuki Ebihara, who was undefeated in nine fights before meeting Harada and who was beaten by Harada on December 24, by a decision in six rounds.

On June 15, 1962, he suffered his first defeat, being beaten on points by Edmundo Esparza over ten rounds in Tokyo.

After one more win, Harada received his first world title try: on October 10 of that year, he became the Lineal and WBA world flyweight champion by knocking out Pone Kingpetch in the eleventh round, in Tokyo.[3]

A rematch followed, and Harada lost the title in his first defense, being outpointed by Kingpetch over fifteen rounds on January 12, 1963 in Bangkok, Thailand. This was Harada's first fight outside Japan.

Harada posted four more wins in a row before losing by knockout in six to Jose Medel on September 26.

After that loss, Harada posted another winning streak, which reached seven before he was given another world title shot. Among the boxers he beat was top contenders Ray Asis, Oscar Reyes, and Katsutoshi Aoki.

On May 18, 1965, Harada extended his winning streak to eight, when he defeated Lineal, WBA and WBC bantamweight champion Eder Jofre in Nagoya, by a fifteen round decision, to win his second world title.[4] Jofre was undefeated in fifty fights coming into this bout, and considered by many of his fans to be invincible.[5]

On November 30, he defeated perennial British contender Alan Rudkin by a fifteen round decision to retain the title. On June 1, 1966, he and Jofre had a rematch in Tokyo, and Harada defeated Jofre once again, by a fifteen round decision. Losing for the second time to Harada prompted Jofre to retire; he would make a successful comeback three years later. Harada was the only boxer to beat Jofre.

After two more, non-title wins, Harada had a chance to avenge his defeat against Jose Medel. On January 3, 1967, Harada retained his world bantamweight title with a fifteen round decision over Medel in Nagoya.

On July 4 he retained the title against Colombian Bernardo Caraballo, a fighter who was well liked in his country. Harada outpointed him over fifteen rounds.

On February 27, 1968, Lionel Rose became the first Indigenous Australian to become a world boxing champion, when he outpointed Harada over fifteen rounds in Tokyo. Having lost his world bantamweight crown, Harada then set his sights on regaining it.

He won four of his next five fights. Among those he defeated were American Dwight Hawkins and his countryman Nobuo Chiba. His lone loss during that span came at the hands of American Alton Colter by a ten round, split decision. Then, he received another world title shot.

On July 28, 1969, after the WBA and WBC had split the world bantamweight title, Harada fought Australia's Johnny Famechon for the WBC world featherweight belt. The fight was held in Sydney, and the referee and only judge was the legendary former world featherweight champion Willie Pep. Pep scored the fight a tie (draw), but Famechon's fans rallied over the call by booing Pep, who then announced he had miscalculated his scorecard and actually had Famechon ahead, making Harada a loser by a fifteen round decision. This fight was, nevertheless, controversial because of the nature of its ending, and the WBC clamoured for a rematch.[6]

After a knockout win in eight rounds over Pat Gonzalez, the rematch came. Harada's management wanted the fight to be held in Tokyo, and so, on January 6, 1970, Harada and Famechon met once again, this time at Tokyo's Metropolitan Gym. Harada dropped the champion in round ten, but Famechon recovered, knocking Harada off the ring in round fourteen and retaining the title by knockout in that round. This was Harada's last fight as a professional.[7]

Harada led a rather quiet life after retirement. In 1996, he was elected into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in Canastota, New York.[8] Coincidentally, Wilfredo Gómez was inducted in the same ceremony. After Gómez expressed that Harada was his idol, Harada responded, using an interpreter, that Gómez had, in turn, become one of his favorite fighters as well. Eder Jofre, one of the boxers Harada beat to win world titles, is also enshrined at the IBHOF.

Masahiko Harada became president of the Japanese Boxing Commission in 2002.

On January 28, 2004, as he was driving home from his office, Harada experienced a headache and he was found to have a brain hemorrhage which required hospitalisation. By 2005 he was recovering steadily.[9]

On November 7, 2019 he presented the Muhammad Ali Trophy to Naoya Inoue after his victory over Nonito Donaire to win the 2018–19 World Boxing Super Series – bantamweight division tournament.[10]

Professional boxing record

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No. Result Record Opponent Type Round, time Date Location Notes
62 Loss 55–7 Johnny Famechon KO 14 (15), 1:09 1970-01-06 Metropolitan Gymnasium, Tokyo, Japan For WBC featherweight title
61 Win 55–6 Pat Gonzales KO 8 (10), 0:17 1969-10-01 Fukui, Fukui, Japan
60 Loss 54–6 Johnny Famechon PTS 15 1969-07-28 Sydney Stadium, Sydney, Australia For WBC featherweight title
59 Win 54–5 Vil Tumulak UD 10 1969-06-04 Nagoya, Aichi, Japan
58 Loss 53–5 Alton Colter SD 10 1969-04-02 Tokyo, Japan
57 Win 53–4 Roy Amolong KO 2 (10), 1:55 1968-12-04 Tokyo, Japan
56 Win 52–4 Nobuo Chiba KO 7 (10), 1:13 1968-09-04 Sano, Tochigi, Japan
55 Win 51–4 Dwight Hawkins UD 10 1968-06-05 Tokyo, Japan
54 Loss 50–4 Lionel Rose UD 15 1968-02-27 Nippon Budokan, Tokyo, Japan Lost WBA, WBC, and The Ring bantamweight titles
53 Win 50–3 Soo Bok Kwon KO 8 (12), 0:26 1967-11-28 Okayama City, Okayama, Japan
52 Win 49–3 Hajime Taroura KO 2 (12), 1:52 1967-09-25 Osaka, Osaka, Japan
51 Win 48–3 Bernardo Caraballo UD 15 1967-07-04 Nippon Budokan, Tokyo, Japan Retained WBA, WBC, and The Ring bantamweight titles
50 Win 47–3 Tiny Palacio UD 12 1967-04-04 Fukuoka, Fukuoka, Japan
49 Win 46–3 José Medel UD 15 1967-01-03 Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium, Nagoya, Aichi, Japan Retained WBA, WBC, and The Ring bantamweight titles
48 Win 45–3 Antonio Herrera UD 12 1966-10-25 Osaka, Osaka, Japan
47 Win 44–3 Dio Espinosa UD 10 1966-08-01 Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan
46 Win 43–3 Éder Jofre UD 15 1966-05-31 Nippon Budokan, Tokyo, Japan Retained WBA, WBC, and The Ring bantamweight titles
45 Win 42–3 Soo Kang Suh PTS 12 1966-02-15 Nagoya, Aichi, Japan
44 Win 41–3 Alan Rudkin UD 15 1965-11-30 Nippon Budokan, Tokyo, Japan Retained WBA, WBC, and The Ring bantamweight titles
43 Win 40–3 Katsuo Saito PTS 12 1965-07-28 Tokyo, Japan
42 Win 39–3 Éder Jofre SD 15 1965-05-18 Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium, Nagoya, Aichi, Japan Won WBA, WBC, and The Ring bantamweight titles
41 Win 38–3 Dommy Froilan KO 6 (10), 1:20 1965-01-04 Tokyo, Japan
40 Win 37–3 Katsutoshi Aoki KO 3 (10), 2:54 1964-10-29 Tokyo, Japan
39 Win 36–3 Oscar Reyes PTS 10 1964-09-17 Tokyo, Japan
38 Win 35–3 Ray Asis UD 10 1964-07-06 Sports Arena, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
37 Win 34–3 Somsak Laemfapha KO 2 (10), 1:05 1964-02-14 Osaka, Osaka, Japan
36 Win 33–3 Avelino Estrada KO 5 (10), 0:51 1964-01-02 Tokyo, Japan
35 Win 32–3 Emile de Leon PTS 10 1963-11-25 Tokyo, Japan
34 Loss 31–3 José Medel TKO 6 (10), 2:28 1963-09-26 Tokyo, Japan
33 Win 31–2 Dommy Balajada UD 10 1963-08-07 Tokyo, Japan
32 Win 30–2 Thira Lodjarengabe RTD 6 (10), 3:00 1963-06-19 Nagoya, Aichi, Japan
31 Win 29–2 Jose Cejuda KO 1 (10), 0:28 1963-05-04 Naha, Okinawa, Japan
30 Win 28–2 Tetsuro Kawai UD 10 1963-03-21 Tokyo, Japan
29 Loss 27–2 Pone Kingpetch MD 15 1963-01-12 National Stadium Gymnasium, Bangkok, Thailand Lost NYSAC, WBA, and The Ring flyweight titles
28 Win 27–1 Pone Kingpetch KO 11 (15), 2:50 1962-10-10 Kokugikan, Tokyo, Japan Won NYSAC, WBA, and The Ring flyweight titles
27 Win 26–1 Little Rufe UD 10 1962-07-23 Tokyo, Japan
26 Loss 25–1 Edmundo Esparza SD 10 1962-06-14 Tokyo, Japan
25 Win 25–0 Baby Espinosa PTS 10 1962-05-03 Korakuen Gym, Tokyo, Japan
24 Win 24–0 Tadao Kawamura UD 10 1962-03-18 Tokyo, Japan
23 Win 23–0 Kozo Nagata UD 10 1962-01-12 Tokyo, Japan
22 Win 22–0 Ryoji Shiratori KO 6 (8), 1:12 1961-12-10 Nagoya, Aichi, Japan
21 Win 21–0 Akio Maki UD 10 1961-10-09 Osaka, Osaka, Japan
20 Win 20–0 Sombang Banbung KO 3 (10), 2:37 1961-09-09 Tokyo, Japan
19 Win 19–0 Akio Maki RTD 8 (10), 3:00 1961-07-31 Tokyo, Japan
18 Win 18–0 Shigeru Ito UD 10 1961-06-19 Tokyo, Japan
17 Win 17–0 Ray Perez UD 10 1961-05-01 Tokyo, Japan
16 Win 16–0 Yasuo Fujita UD 6 1961-03-05 Tokyo, Japan
15 Win 15–0 Riichi Tanaka UD 6 1961-01-28 Tokyo, Japan
14 Win 14–0 Tsuyoshi Nakamura UD 6 1961-01-05 Tokyo, Japan
13 Win 13–0 Hiroyuki Ebihara PTS 6 1960-12-24 Tokyo, Japan
12 Win 12–0 Yoshinori Hikita KO 3 (4), 1:44 1960-12-11 Tokyo, Japan
11 Win 11–0 Hachiro Arai UD 4 1960-11-07 Tokyo, Japan
10 Win 10–0 Sadayoshi Yoshida KO 4 (4), 1:02 1960-10-28 Tokyo, Japan
9 Win 9–0 Yukio Suzuki UD 4 1960-09-01 Tokyo, Japan
8 Win 8–0 Masaru Kodangi RTD 3 (4), 3:00 1960-07-18 Tokyo, Japan
7 Win 7–0 Kazuo Morita KO 1 (4), 1:25 1960-06-24 Shinagawa Hall, Tokyo, Japan
6 Win 6–0 Masatake Ogura TKO 3 (4), 2:16 1960-06-10 Tokyo, Japan
5 Win 5–0 Ken Morita UD 4 1960-04-13 Tokyo, Japan
4 Win 4–0 Yuichi Noguchi UD 4 1960-04-04 Tokyo, Japan
3 Win 3–0 Goro Iwamoto KO 3 (4), 2:53 1960-03-27 Asakusa Hall, Tokyo, Japan
2 Win 2–0 Mitsuo Motohashi SD 4 1960-03-02 Tokyo, Japan
1 Win 1–0 Isami Masui TKO 4 (4), 2:20 1960-02-21 Tokyo, Japan

See also

References

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External links

Sporting positions
World boxing titles
Preceded by NYSAC flyweight champion
October 10, 1962 – January 12, 1963		 Succeeded by
Pone Kingpetch
WBA flyweight champion
October 10, 1962 – January 12, 1963
The Ring flyweight champion
October 10, 1962 – January 12, 1963
Undisputed flyweight champion
October 10, 1962 – January 12, 1963
Preceded by WBA bantamweight champion
May 18, 1965 – February 27, 1968		 Succeeded by
Lionel Rose
WBC bantamweight champion
May 18, 1965 – February 27, 1968
The Ring bantamweight champion
May 18, 1965 – February 27, 1968
Undisputed bantamweight champion
May 18, 1965 – February 27, 1968

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