The story of the reversal of the “cheap” boxer Yuichi Ideta to become the “Japanese Champion

Why the boxer, who is now in his 40s, remained active despite 1 win, 15 losses, and 1 minute

There is a theory called the “black swan. While the conventional wisdom was that “white swans are white,” a black swan was discovered in Australia in 1697, causing an uproar. Since then, the black swan has been used as an example of how the unexpected can happen.

Professional boxer Yuichi Ideta, 40, is a true black swan. He was the All-Japan welterweight rookie champion in 2006 and won 12 straight fights after his debut, but after losing a fight in August ’11, he lost 11 straight fights after his next fight was drawn. In the nearly 10 years from February ’10 to December ’20, he has lost 1-15-1, a significant losing streak.

Under normal circumstances, he would have been eliminated, but in November ’22, he became the Japanese super welterweight champion, and on October 8, 2010, he made his third defense against Hisashi Kato (39) by TKO in the fifth round.

Because of the damage done to the brain and body in this special sport, it is rare for a fighter to continue fighting into middle age. It is even rarer for a fighter with 16 black stars to win the Japanese title. Here is a look back at Ideta’s life as a boxer, from his own words and from the testimonies of those involved.

If I were in his position as a coach, I would have advised him to retire.

He laughs as he says this. As for why he continued to be active even though he kept losing, he says, “Even though I kept losing, I practiced day in and day out.

Even though I kept losing, I felt that I could get stronger in my daily practice, and I could see that I was getting stronger and stronger than yesterday. Even in the games I lost, I could see things I should have done differently in those situations that would have helped me win, so I was able to overcome my problems one by one. Even during the losing streak, I didn’t think about retiring.

One of the reasons he did not lose heart even in the losing streak was the presence of his wife, Ayako, 37. Even when he came home after losing a match, he treated her the same way he always had.

Even when I came home after losing a match, she would say things like, ‘You are stronger than you were in the last match,’ or ‘You were better than you were in the last match,’ which made me think that I could still do my best and that I could try a little harder.”

A week after the match, with his face still swollen, Ideta came to the gym and silently practiced. Six days a week, after finishing his day job, he visited the gym and practiced by himself. Takashi Misako, the president of his gym, looks back on those days and laughs.

If he had just fought fights, made money, and continued to be a professional boxer out of pride, I would have let him quit. But he was calm, dedicated to training, and never cut corners. I would have made him quit if he had been unskilled in fights or in daily practice, but I was troubled by the fact that he worked like a martial arts fighter (laughs).

Special Circumstances: “Name Remains in the Japanese Ranks” Even After 11 Straight Losses

Ideta was originally a fighter at Yonekura Gym, but in August 2005, Yonekura Gym was closed and he became a member of Misako Gym. He had lost six consecutive fights by the time he transferred to Misasako, and he temporarily retired from the gym, but returned to the gym in time for the transfer. Since joining the Misako Gym, he has lost five consecutive fights, for a total of 11 consecutive losses. The president of another gym even complained to him to his face, “Why don’t you let him quit? Misako continued.

He doesn’t seem to be focused on winning, and he doesn’t show any emotion of frustration at losing. I feel like they are used to losing. Even if they have lost a lot, if they play a good match and the content of the match makes people want to see them play again, then I’ll put them in a match. If I gave it my all and then lost because my opponent was one better, then I would say, “Let’s try harder next time,” but it looked like I was losing games that I could have won.

Even so, he took about a week off and continued to practice silently with a swollen face. I had never seen a fighter lose 11 fights in a row, so I wondered what was going on (laugh).

But I have no trouble setting up fights. His opponents’ gyms often call him up, and I don’t remember having any trouble making up fights. He is hard-hitting and has punching power. Whenever I set up a fight with him, I would lose again. I felt frustrated.

Normally, he would have been advised to retire, but he was able to stay active because of the special circumstances of the super welterweight division. In the Japanese boxing world, the lightweight division is thriving and has produced many world champions.

However, the super welterweight division is the sixth heaviest of the 17 weight classes, with a weight limit of 154 pounds (69.8 kg). Only four Japanese have been world champions, while Shinji Takehara and Ryota Murata have won world titles in the middleweight division, one weight class higher.

The number of competitors is also small, and in many cases, the middle and heavyweight classes do not even meet the Japanese ranking of 15. Since Ideta had won 12 straight fights in his debut and qualified as a class A boxer (two wins in six rounds), his name remained in the Japanese ranks even though he continued to lose.

From the opposing gym’s point of view, he was a “tasty” opponent. He was patient and never gave up the fight. He is a hard-hitting but clumsy fighter with a losing habit, and he is the kind of fighter who can get one win with minimal risk. In fact, MISAKO, the president of his gym, said he had no trouble making matches.

I would have thought that the other team would have put him in the match, thinking, ‘There’s no one that’s this easy to beat. But I had a feeling that if I could just get one win, I could get rid of my losing habit. I have the potential to become the Japanese champion. I was waiting for that chance.”

Fight after escaping a losing streak, first-round TKO loss brings retirement

The turning point fight was against Ryota Yada in December ’20. A former welterweight champion of Japan, Ideta was named as his opponent for the main event of the “21st Crash Boxing” event, his second fight in his second renaissance. According to the preliminary rankings, the odds were overwhelmingly against Ideta.

He was told, “Fight as if it were a title match. I told him repeatedly, “Fight as if it is a title match, and do whatever it takes to win because a win here will pave the way to a real title match.

From a technical standpoint, I made him aware of increasing his number of moves. Even from the top of the guard, he would land hard blows and body strikes to reduce his opponent’s strength and connect with the upper body (head). I made sure he was aware of this.

Misako won an eight-round decision over the former Japanese champion, breaking out of the black tunnel of 11 consecutive losses. He won his next fight by TKO, but after suffering a first-round TKO loss in his next bout in November 2010, Ideta continued, “I seriously considered retiring.

He said, “I changed my running style during practice and hurt my leg, so in the fight I couldn’t stand on my feet…I got knocked down in the first round, and although I still had the will to fight, my body wasn’t able to keep up. I couldn’t transmit my will to my leg, and I couldn’t do my usual boxing at all, which is to stick with it and do my best.

There was talk of challenging the Japanese champion if I won, so I was back to square one and wondered when I would be able to gradually move up the rankings to become a champion again.

But when I came home, my wife said to me, ‘Next time,’ and she said that to me right away, even though I had actually lost a match in the first round.”

Ideta decided to start from scratch. It wasn’t a good thing that I was injured, but it was a good thing that I lost by first-round KO.’ On November 8, 2010, he was nominated by Japanese super welterweight champion Makoto Kawasaki as his opponent for the main event of the “Phoenix Battle” at Korakuen Hall.

Why Ideta, who was treated as a cheap shot, was able to win the title of Japanese champion

He must have looked like a cheap tile.

Mihako laughs and explains, “The former Japanese champion won in Osaka.

I think the champion’s camp thought that the win over the former Japanese champion in Osaka was a fluke, and that it was back to Ideta’s losing streak. Matchmaking is a world of tactics, so right after the first-round KO loss, I thought about retiring him because of his leg injury, but on the other hand, I felt that the champion might think, ‘If it’s Izuta, he’ll win easily,’ and call him up, so I waited a day and a thousand years for a match offer.

Just as Misako had hoped, the champion made an offer to fight him.

At that time in 2010, Shuichiro Yoshino was the WBO Asia Pacific lightweight champion at Misako Gym.

In April ’22, Yoshino had beaten former WBO super featherweight champion Masayuki Ito by TKO as a prelude to the Golovkin vs. Ryota Murata bout, and Yoshino’s momentum was carrying over to the entire gym. When Misako suggested that Ideta, who was practicing silently by himself, join Yoshino and others in running in the gym, Ideta was adamant that he would be a nuisance because of his slow legs, but instead he was allowed to participate.

On Saturday morning, at a track in a park near the gym, Ideta joined Yoshino and other young athletes in an 800-meter run.

He said, “In the ring, you fight alone, but until the match, you prepare for it as a team. I think he was reminded of how many people are supporting him.

I wanted them to learn the professionalism of top athletes by running together, and although they were in the back of the pack at the joint practice, they clenched and clenched as they ran. I was in my late thirties among the young fighters, and I felt like I was out of place in the gym, but after we started training together, Ideta started talking to the young fighters before and after practice, and the young fighters started talking to Ideta, which made the gym more lively.

In the title match, the body strikes he had been practicing paid off, and he won by TKO in 1:52 of the 9th round, 17 years and 7 months after his debut at the age of 20.

Ideta, arms crossed, reflected, “When I was young, I won the rookie championship.

When I was young, I won the Rookie of the Year title and had a 12-match winning streak, so I thought I could become Japanese champion in one or two years. I never thought it would take this long.

Misako narrowed her eyes.

For a boxer, it makes all the difference whether he becomes champion or not. No matter how many times you lose, if you win one title match, your name will be engraved in history. I really wanted him to win.

At 40 years old, Kato is the oldest champion in Japan, and his opponent in the October title match that marked his V3 triumph was also 39 years old, so the fight was a heated contest that put both boxers’ lives on the line. Although both fighters’ ages were under scrutiny before the fight, they fought passionately as if they were grinding each other’s souls.

In the fourth round, Ideta took Kato down twice, but Kato was not intimidated and landed a left hand that put Ideta on his heels, and in the fifth round, Ideta staggered Kato with a short right hand, and after a flurry of punches, the referee ruled the fight a TKO. Both Ideta’s victory and Kato’s defeat were etched in the minds of the fans at Korakuen.

Former three-weight champion Higashi Yaegashi, who was commentating on the match, praised the fight, saying, “Boxing is not only great for the world champion, but also for the world champion.

In boxing, it is not only world champions who are great, but also those who have been competing for a long time who shine brightly.

On November 21, the strongest challenger in the Japanese super welterweight division will be held. The winner of that match, the strongest challenger, will come for Ideta’s belt. Ideta spoke about his next defense with an aloof expression on his face.

Both fighters are stronger than me. I’m not going to defend, I’m going to challenge, and I’m going to do it with no regrets.

How far will the black swan of the Japanese boxing world go?

(Honorifics omitted)