<figure id="attachment_449159" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-449159" style="width: 2500px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="d26ba310"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/12/b41d5a187fd77f7951ee90c6c9e080e8.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-449159" class="wp-caption-text">His first tournament match in May was his professional debut. In the quarterfinals, he beat a Chinese fighter who had defeated Ryunosuke Hoshi (27), a former K-1 fighter who was a favorite to win the tournament, and in the semifinals, he won a 2nd round KO over Musa Nakano (20), a strong amateur boxer who started boxing at the age of 4.</figcaption></figure>
<h2> A monster has appeared in the &#8220;heavyweight&#8221; division of the Japanese boxing world!</h2>
<p> When I visited Kakkaiho Boxing Gym located near JR Otsuka Station, I heard a boom, boom, boom!　The sound of mitts being struck echoed through the street.</p>
<p> Kyotaro Fujimoto, 39, a former WBO Asia Pacific heavyweight champion and a front-runner in the Japanese heavyweight division, was standing in front of his mitts. The boxer with his log-like arms outstretched toward him was Ken Onuma, 21, a Nigerian father and Japanese mother who is Japan&#8217;s heavyweight hope.</p>
<p> Onuma has been boxing for less than two years and has no amateur experience, but he made his professional debut at the &#8220;Phoenix Tournament Asia Heavyweight Challenge Cup&#8221; with a prize money of 10 million yen, and has not lost any of his first three fights, advancing to the final on December 18 at Korakuen Hall.</p>
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<p> Onuma is a graduate of the prestigious Teikyo High School soccer team, and is currently a third-year university student studying environmental pollution in the Department of Environmental Chemistry in the School of Advanced Engineering at Kogakuin University.</p>
<p> Onuma himself confides, &#8220;When I joined Teikyo, I thought I wanted to play in the high school soccer championship as a forward and make a living playing soccer after graduation.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"><span class="strong-in-content"> I was just &#8230;&#8230; naive in my thinking. As expected of a prestigious school, the level was different (laughs). Moreover, I had injuries such as a torn anterior cruciate ligament in my knee, and most of my three years in high school were spent in rehabilitation. I was unable to play in a single official game, and I was filled with frustration and a sense of helplessness.</span></span></p>
<p> He stopped playing soccer and changed his direction to enter college. In the winter of his first year of college, while working part-time as a tutor at a cram school teaching math and science to junior high school students, he discovered boxing at the suggestion of a friend.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"><span class="strong-in-content"> I started boxing with a light heart because I had healed from a knee injury,&#8221; he said. I can feel myself growing day by day. My friends are starting to prepare for job hunting, but I&#8217;m really into boxing.</span></span></p>
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<p> Currently, he spends five days a week in physical training and three days a week sweating it out at Kakuei Gym.</p>
<p> The heavyweight division is the most prestigious of all boxing divisions and attracts the most commercial attention, but for a long time it has been a &#8220;barren division&#8221; for Japanese boxers of inferior physique. Onuma is fortunate in that his trainer is Fujimoto, who has experience challenging former IBF champion Daniel Dubois (28).</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"><span class="strong-in-content"> Fujimoto, who has experience challenging former IBF champion Daniel Dubois (28), is a trainer for Onuma, who has such athletic ability and is so honest. It is also good that she is able to move with a body weighing close to 100 kg, and yet she is scared of her opponents. There are many 2-meter-tall fighters in the world, and the top five are exceptional. But he has a good chance to become a world ranker.</span></span></p>
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" Trainer of former world champion also praises Fujimoto."></div>
<h2>He also possesses the stoicism of Shohei Otani.</h2>
<p> Susumu Doi, 55, a physical trainer who has supported many top fighters, including former world champion Takashi Uchiyama, 46, is another who appreciates Onuma&#8217;s high potential.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"><span class="strong-in-content"> Onuma&#8217;s growth curve is tremendous because of his lack of experience. His stamina is already world-class. Rui Yamura (27) is playing in the NBA, and Shohei Ohtani (31) is playing a dual role in MLB. It would not be surprising if there is a Japanese boxer who can compete with the world in the heavyweight division. He is a serious, hard-working person who leads a stoic life, going to and from home, school, and the gym, which I feel is similar to Otani.</span></span></p>
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<p> More than power, Doi&#8217;s brilliant footwork and piercing jab are the key to his success. Doi sees in Onuma the image of Muhammad Ali, the legendary heavyweight champion. In fact, Onuma&#8217;s greatest weapons are his jab and inexhaustible stamina. Onuma says, &#8220;Mr. Doi told me to use the footage of Ali.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"><span class="strong-in-content"> Doi told me to watch Ali&#8217;s videos, and I found his strength, big mouth, and everything cool. It would be great if I could be like Ali and say, &#8216;I&#8217;m going to be a champion. I wanted to say at the pre-tournament press conference that I wanted to show boxing like Ali, &#8216;dancing like a butterfly and stinging like a bee,&#8217; but I was too nervous to say it (laughs). (Laughs.) Maybe I will say that when I win next time.</span></span></p>
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<p> In the final, he will face Mahanhaili Nurutai (China), a giant of a fighter at 116 kg, and the key will be how he can make up the nearly 10 kg weight difference.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"><span class="strong-in-content"> I&#8217;ll just use my jab and stamina to whittle down my opponent&#8217;s stamina and knock him down.</span></span></p>
<p> Onuma is trying to grasp with his fists the view that he could not reach in soccer.</p>
<figure id="attachment_449160" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-449160" style="width: 1699px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="b337ab9d"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/12/e013b3068b4ce634909a661360e9d2ca.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-449160" class="wp-caption-text"> He will be in his third year of college when he leaves the gym. Although his mother is against him, Onuma will not be looking for a job, but will instead pursue his boxing career.<img src="https://assets.friday.gold/friday-wp-production-assets/app/uploads/2025/11/IMG_5174-26134658662996.jpg/v/clamp-size:width=640/format:type=webp?Expires=1764830781&amp;Key-Pair-Id=K2H5GZZHVJCN4V&amp;Signature=Ckzcg7mfMVXR8AIm91lWjqeTl3nXIsduX4fv8BshtDxfbvZSimO-qNMp8Vn0~6H0VipWLTWQ9PCdBJVcc0~7O7d51FNsIsaEIFdFs6lr8~uU6C97Td2zUH1oU3xY7C9WnJAeBpUT7bbpqqI7yDi6bby3EqKelYQ0ruy~i7SgLxmE4pVX0D6-veH~aEq73E5RJ~YL58UKwq6WOwrs1FAMJ0mACNHKH-TIVqa0rAt3GtBqoES0qqMWLCJLmVXcRf9LBRI9TEDHat-g3Yjz~WmQZbGDI~C9v9bkiZLZv6~urIpW3WrbpD4SD1aW1QJ2O6BvAC9IX113rLl2mIkoH5PBJw__" alt=""></figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_449162" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-449162" style="width: 1507px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="debb174b"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/12/d77d3dfb06fdb39c56fb0351b8987cf7.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-449162" class="wp-caption-text"> Onuma in his Teikyo period. Due to injuries and other problems, he was only able to participate in practice matches, and &#8220;in the end, I hated soccer.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_449163" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-449163" style="width: 2276px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="9f70496a"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/12/f2a07144d186b32f6b104389c44cd5dc.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-449163" class="wp-caption-text"> Ken Onuma, the &#8220;Japanese Muhammad Ali,&#8221; has not lost in three fights since his professional debut.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_449165" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-449165" style="width: 2500px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="cecf8a11"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/12/d7c058450894277b1762a33bb8d38fba.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-449165" class="wp-caption-text"> Ken Onuma, &#8220;The Japanese Muhammad Ali,&#8221; unbeaten in three fights since his debut as a professional fighter</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_449167" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-449167" style="width: 2500px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="afc4cd39"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/12/3bd57fd5e72222758c0d5ce7a30057cb.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-449167" class="wp-caption-text"> Unpublished cuts of Ken Oonuma, the Japanese Muhammad Ali, who has not lost in three fights since his professional debut.</figcaption></figure>


 Masao Kurihara

 Ken Onuma made it to the final of the 10 million yen prize money tournament after two years of boxing. He has turned around from a setback in the Teikyo High School kickball club to a player who is regarded as "a potential world ranker. We take a closer look at the true face of this rising star who admires Muhammad Ali.

Interview with Ken Onuma, “I want to dance like a butterfly and sting like a bee.

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