AAPI Heritage Month in Boxing

Throughout the history of boxing there have been some great boxers of Asian, Asian American, or Pacific Islander descent around the world. Boxers such as Choi Chang Jung and Manny Pacquiao whom is one of the greatest Asian boxers of all time.

Who is the Best Current Asian Boxer Today?

With the 2024 year getting close to its midpoint, we have come up with our list of the best Asian boxers in the world right now. With Japanese boxers dominating this year’s list, we have multiple new entries, however, Naoya Inoue stays on top with another impressive defense of his undisputed title. 

Before we move to the official rankings, here are some honorable mentions. These honorable mentions include one of the best Chinese Boxers such as Zhilei Zhang, the former Filipino WBA (Super) and IBF Super Bantamweight Champion Marlon Tapales, and more.

Honorable Mentions

• Thammanoon Niyomtrong (WBA Minimumweight Super Champion)
• Zhan Kossobutskiy
• Yudai Shigeoka
• Marlon Tapales
• John Riel Casimero
• Hiroto Kyoguchi
• Zhilei Zhang

Top 10 Best Asian Boxers 2024 Rankings

10. Yoshiki Takei

Title(s):

• WBO Bantamweight World Champion

Starting off the list, we have a Japanese boxer, Yoshiki Takei, who has an undefeated professional record with 9 wins. 

As of last weekend, Takei is the new WBO bantamweight world champion, and he won the title after defeating former champ Jason Moloney. He gave an excellent performance, unboxing Moloney for most of the fight, and surviving a high-paced last round to win by Unanimous decision.

9. Kosei Tanaka

Title(s):

• WBO Super Flyweight World Champion

Next up, Kosei Tanaka is another professional boxer from Japan, and he has a record of 20 wins and 1 loss. 

He is the current WBO super flyweight world champion and held the same title at flyweight, junior flyweight, and mini-flyweight as well. 

In his most recent fight, he defeated Christian Bacasegua via Unanimous Decision, and there is no announcement about his next fight.

8. Murodjon Akhmadaliev

Next up, we have Murodjon Akhmadaliev from Uzbekistan, a professional boxer with a record of 12 wins and 1 loss. 

He is the former unified WBA (Super) and IBF super-bantamweight world champion and defended the titles three times before losing them to Marlon Tapales. 

He defeated Kevin Gonzalez via TKO in his most recent fight, and there is no official announcement about his next fight.

7. Ryosuke Nishida

Title(s):

• IBF Bantamweight World Champion

Ryosuke Nishida is a professional boxer from Japan, with an undefeated record of 9 wins and no losses

Nishida is the former WBO Asia Pacific bantamweight champion, with three successful title defenses under his belt, and as of last week, he is the new IBF bantamweight world champion. 

He won the title after defeating Emmanuel Rodriguez via Unanimous decision. He dropped Rodriguez with an excellent body shot in the 4th, fighting on to a UD win.

6. Kazuto Ioka

Title(s):

• WBA Super Flyweight World Champion

Fighting out of Japan, Kazuto Ioka is a professional boxer with 31 wins, 2 losses, and 1 draw. 

He is the current  WBA super-flyweight world champion and previously held the WBO title as well. Before moving up to super flyweight, he also held the WBA title at 112 lbs and has a total of 11 title defenses on his record. 

In his most recent fight, he defended his title against Josber Perez winning the fight via Knockout.

5. Junto Nakatani

Title(s):

• WBC Super Flyweight World Champion

Now in the Top 5 of the best Asian boxers is Junto Nakatani. Nakatani is a Japanese boxer, with an undefeated record of 27 wins and no losses. 

Nakatani started this year by becoming a three-division world champion. He defeated Alexandro Santiago in his most recent fight to become the WBC bantamweight world champion and previously held the WBO junior-bantamweight title as well. 

As of now, there is no official announcement about his next fight.

4. Takuma Inoue

Title(s):

• WBA Bantamweight World Champion

Takuma Inoue is a professional boxer from Japan, and he has a record of 20 wins and only 1 loss.

Inoue is the current WBA bantamweight champion of the world and has made two successful title defenses. He is also the former Japanese super-bantamweight national champion. 

He won the WBA title after defeating Liborio Solís via Unanimous Decision, and in his most recent fight, he made his second title defense against Shō Ishida.

3. Kenshiro Teraji

Title(s):

• WBA Junior Flyweight Super Champion
• WBC Junior Flyweight World Champion
• The Ring Junior Flyweight World Champion

More commonly known by his ring name Ken Shiro, Kenshiro Teraji is a Japanese professional boxer with a record of 23 wins and 1 loss. 

Ken Shiro is a two-time WBC light-flyweight champion and currently holds the unified WBA (Super), WBC, and The Ring light-flyweight titles. 

In his most recent fight, Ken Shiro defended his unified titles against Carlos Cañizales, winning by Majority Decision. There is no announcement about his next fight.

2. Janibek Alimkhanuly

Title(s):

• WBO Middleweight World Champion
• IBF Middleweight World Champion

At number 2, Fighting out of Kazakhstan, Janibek Alimkhanuly is an undefeated boxer with 15 wins and 0 losses. 

Janibek Alimkhanuly is the current unified WBO and IBF middleweight world champion, and he has also held multiple regional titles. He won the Vacant WBO title after defeating Danny Dignum via Knockout and after two defenses, he added the IBF title to his name as well by defeating Vincenzo Gualtieri in his most recent fight. 

As of now, there is no official announcement about his next fight.

1. Naoya Inoue

Title(s):

• WBC Super Bantamweight World Champion
• WBO Super Bantamweight World Champion
• WBA Super Bantamweight Super Champion
• IBF Super Bantamweight World Champion
• The Ring Super Bantamweight World Champion

The #1 Best Asian Boxers and Fighter of the Year is Naoya Inoue. Fighting out of Japan, Inoue is one of the best Japanese boxers ever with a record of 24 wins and 0 losses. 

The best Asian boxer right now, Inoue, has held world titles in three different weight classes, and until recently, he was the Undisputed bantamweight champion of the world. Inoue also held the WBO junior-bantamweight title, and the WBC light-flyweight title and has 15-combined title defenses across all three weight classes. 

In 2023, “The Monster” moved up another division to Super Bantamweight. Inoue defeated Stephen Fulton to win the Super bantamweight title. He won the fight via TKO in the 8th round, after landing a knockdown in the same round.

Inoue fought Marlon Tapales, with his unified WBC and WBO super-bantamweight titles, and Tapales’ WBA (Super), IBF, and vacant The Ring titles on the line. He won the fight with a dominant performance, knocking  Tapales twice before getting the KO win in the 10th round.

Recently, Inoue defended the undisputed and unified WBA (Super), WBC, IBF, WBO, and The Ring super bantamweight titles for the first time against Luis Nery, winning the fight by an impressive 6th round Knockout.

How would rank these Asian, Asian American, or Pacific Islander boxers of today? Rank below to be added in the Boxing Power Rankings

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