By David Finger

There are no shortages of uplifting stories in the sport of boxing, but even the most inspiring stories all have to come to an end. And one of the sport’s most inspirational stories will come to an end as the popular former WBO mini-flyweight champion Tatsuya Fukuhara announced his retirement on Facebook last month.

“I thought about various things,” Fukuhara said on his Facebook page, “but I reached this conclusion.”

Fukuhara was one of the most unlikely fighters to emerge as a world champion, having first stepped into the Honda Boxing Gym years ago to get in shape and possessing no dreams of a world title in the future. Fukuhara owed much of his success in the ring to his lifelong trainer, Mr. Kenya Honda.

“Mr. Honda, brought me up to where I am now, I had no talent at all and felt weak,” Fukuhara added. “(I also had) a gym staff that always supported me when practicing or during fights.”

Fukuhara reached the pinnacle of his success on February 26, 2017 when he defeated Mexico’s Moises Calleros by way of twelve round split decision to win the interim WBO 105-pound title. The fight with Calleros was arguably one of the most exciting mini-flyweight fights in WBO history. Fukuhara was elevated to full champion after the retirement of Katsunari Takayama but would go on to lose his belt in his first title defense to the slick boxing Ryu Yamanaka. Fukuhara would go on to fight for the WBC belt twice more, losing a close twelve round decision to Wanheng Menayothin in November of 2017. He would go on to drop another decision, this time an eight round technical decision, to Menayothin on May 31, 2019.

Fukuhara, who remains one of Kumamoto, Japan’s most successful professional boxers, retires with a record of 21-7-6, 7 KOs. He is scheduled to appear at a boxing show in Kumamoto on August 11 to take part in a retirement ceremony.