Hozumi Hasegawa : biography

Hasegawa defended his title for the fifth time on January 10, 2008 with a 12-round unanimous decision victory against top-ranked WBC contender Simone Maludrottu. Hasegawa had transferred to the newly established Shinsei Boxing Gym in Kobe along with its founder and his trainer, Masato Yamashita, during the 8 month layoff since his last defense. Despite suffering a cut above his right eye early in the fight, Hasegawa dominated the fight to win by unanimous decision. This made him the first Japanese boxer to have defended a bantamweight world title over four times.

He defended it again for the sixth time, defeating Venezuela’s Cristian Faccio with a 2nd round TKO on June 12, 2008.

Hasegawa fought on October 16, 2008 where he defended his title for the 7th time by taking on Mexican prospect Alejandro Valdez. Hasegawa won the fight by technical knockout in the second round.

His 8th title defense was a lot more impressive as he stopped Vusi Malinga in a single round on March 12, 2009.

He defended it again for the 9th time, defeating USA’s Nestor Rocha with a 1st round TKO on July 14, 2009.

He defended his title for the tenth time by knocking out Alvaro Perez on December 12, 2009.

Title run comes to an end

On April 30, 2010, Hasegawa challenged WBO 118-pound champion Fernando Montiel of Mexico. Although Montiel holds a title in the same division, it was not on the line because of JBC policy. At the bout, Hasegawa won the first three rounds, frustrating the Mexican visitor. In the fourth round Montiel managed to land an attack on Hasegawa, leaving the hometown fighter vulnerable for more blows. The referee declared an end and this was Hasegawa’s first knockout loss. Aside from losing the match and the title, Hasegawa also suffered a shattered jaw. The injury was caused not by Montiel’s barrage of attacks in the 4th round but by an impact Hasegawa took in the 1st.

Featherweight

Following the bout with Montiel, Hasegawa went up two weight divisions and fight Juan Carlos Burgos for the vacant WBC featherweight crown on November 26, 2010 and won the WBC Featherweight Championship.

Hasegawa was nominated as return of the year for the Best of 2010 awards by WBC, but was granted the most dramatic fight of the year for the match against Fernando Montiel, after all. 

After being dethroned by Jhonny González in April 2011, Hasegawa hired a new trainer Frankie Liles in November 2011, in addition to his long-time trainer Yamashita, and has intensely trained with them.

Hasegawa was slated to make his return to the ring against the undefeated Mexican featherweight Carlos Felipe Felix on December 17, 2011. However, a broken right rib that he sustained during training caused the bout to be postponed until April 6, 2012. He stopped the opponent in the seventh round in that comeback appearance.

Super bantamweight

In October 2012, it was announced that Hasegawa would move down a weight division to super bantamweight in his next fight in December. He defeated Arturo Santos Reyes via a unanimous decision in Kobe on December 22, 2012. Hasegawa told that he had needed two years after winning the featherweight title to recapture his early style. He had suffered from lack of motivation to continue fighting during the two years after the death of his dearest mother and the tragedy of the aftermath of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan.

Hasegawa will face Genaro Camargo in a 125 round ten round bout in Tokyo on August 12, 2013.

Professional Record

|- |align="center" colspan=8|32 Wins (14 knockouts, 18 decisions), 4 Losses, 0 Draws |- |align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Res. |align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Record |align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Opponent |align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Type |align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Rd., Time |align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Date |align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Location |align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Notes |-align=center | | |align=left| Genaro Camargo | || |2013-8-12 || align=left| Tokyo, Japan |align=left| |-align=center |Win |32-4 |align=left| Veerapol Sor Chantasith | KO || 3 |2013-4-26 || align=left| Kobe, Japan |align=left| |-align=center |Win |31-4 |align=left| Arturo Santos Reyes | UD || 10 |2012-12-22 || align=left| Kobe, Japan |align=left| |-align=center |Win |30-4 |align=left| Felipe Carlos Felix | TKO || 7 , 2:28 |2012-4-6 || align=left| Tokyo, Japan |align=left| |-align=center |Loss |29-4 |align=left| Jhonny González | TKO || 4 , 0:58 |2011-04-08 || align=left| Kobe, Japan |align=left| |-align=center |Win |29-3 |align=left| Juan Carlos Burgos | UD || 12 |2010-11-26 || align=left| Nagoya, Japan |align=left| |-align=center |Loss |28-3 |align=left| Fernando Montiel | TKO || 4 , 2:59 |2010-04-30 || align=left| Tokyo, Japan |align=left| |-align=center |Win |28-2 |align=left| Alvaro Perez | TKO || 4 , 2:38 |2009-12-18 || align=left| Kobe, Japan |align=left| |-align=center |Win |27-2 |align=left| Nestor Rocha | TKO || 1 , 2:28 |2009-07-14 || align=left| Kobe, Japan |align=left| |-align=center |Win |26-2 |align=left| Vusi Malinga | TKO || 1 , 2:37 |2009-03-12 || align=left| Kobe, Japan |align=left| |-align=center |Win |25-2 |align=left| Alejandro Valdez | TKO || 2 , 2:41 |2008-10-16 || align=left| Tokyo, Japan |align=left| |-align=center |Win |24-2 |align=left| Cristian Faccio | TKO || 2 , 2:l8 |2008-06-12 || align=left| Tokyo, Japan |align=left| |-align=center |Win |23-2 |align=left| Simone Maludrottu | UD || 12 |2008-01-10 || align=left| Osaka, Japan |align=left| |-align=center |Win |22-2 |align=left| Simpiwe Vetyeka | UD || 12 |2007-05-03 || align=left| Tokyo, Japan |align=left| |-align=center |Win |21-2 |align=left| Genaro Garcia | UD || 12 |2006-11-13 || align=left| Tokyo, Japan |align=left| |-align=center |Win |20-2 |align=left| Veeraphol Sahaprom | TKO || 9 , 0:19 |2006-03-25 || align=left| Kobe, Japan |align=left| |-align=center |Win |19-2 |align=left| Gerardo Martinez | TKO || 7 , 2:18 |2005-09-25 || align=left| Yokohama, Japan |align=left| |-align=center |Win |18-2 |align=left| Veeraphol Sahaprom | UD || 12 |2005-04-16 || align=left| Tokyo, Japan |align=left| |-align=center |Win |17-2 |align=left| Jun Toriumi | UD || 10 |2004-10-30 || align=left| Tokyo, Japan |align=left| |-align=center |Win |16-2 |align=left| Norasing Kietprasanchai | UD || 12 |2004-05-23 || align=left| Kobe, Japan |align=left| |-align=center |Win |15-2 |align=left| Dechsayarm Sithpordam | UD || 10 |2004-02-15 || align=left| Osaka, Japan |align=left| |-align=center |Win |14-2 |align=left| Alvin Felicilda | TKO || 10 , 1:20 |2003-11-09 || align=left| Kobe, Japan |align=left| |-align=center |Win |13-2 |align=left| Sunao Uno | SD || 12 |2003-07-20 || align=left| Gifu, Japan |align=left| |-align=center |Win |12-2 |align=left| Jess Maca | SD || 12 |2003-05-18 || align=left| Kobe, Japan |align=left| |-align=center |Win |11-2 |align=left| Naphdetsh Soonkilanoynai | UD || 10 |2003-03-02 || align=left| Akashi, Japan |align=left| |-align=center |Win |10-2 |align=left| Ryuichi Minoriyama | UD || 10 |2002-10-27 || align=left| Kobe, Japan |align=left| |-align=center |Win |9-2 |align=left| Toshinobu Nakatani | UD || 10 |2002-08-24 || align=left| Osaka, Japan |align=left| |-align=center |Win |8-2 |align=left| Pornchai Sithpraprom | TKO || 6 , 0:50 |2002-04-21 || align=left| Kobe, Japan |align=left| |-align=center |Win |7-2 |align=left| Gamwonwan Sithsobha | KO || 2 , 1:16 |2002-02-03 || align=left| Osaka, Japan |align=left| |-align=center |Win |6-2 |align=left| Hisami Kitahara | UD || 6 |2001-10-21 || align=left| Kobe, Japan |align=left| |-align=center |Win |5-2 |align=left| Takashi Taketazu | UD || 6 |2001-08-17 || align=left| Amagasaki, Japan |align=left| |-align=center |Win |4-2 |align=left| Yoshihiro Yoshioka | KO || 1 , 2:13 |2001-07-07 || align=left| Osaka, Japan |align=left| |-align=center |Loss |3-2 |align=left| Masamitsu Arakawa | SD || 4 |2001-05-20 || align=left| Kobe, Japan |align=left| |-align=center |Win |3-1 |align=left| Yoshinori Terada | UD || 4 |2001-01-28 || align=left| Takasago, Japan |align=left| |-align=center |Loss |2-1 |align=left| Takashi Taketazu | UD || 4 |2000-07-30 || align=left| Osaka, Japan |align=left| |-align=center |Win |2-0 |align=left| Hideki Ishizuka | TKO || 2 , 1:59 |2000-04-28 || align=left| Kobe, Japan |align=left| |-align=center |Win |1-0 |align=left| Shuichi Kuroiwa | UD || 4 |1999-11-22 || align=left| Kobe, Japan |align=left| |-align=center