By Tré Berry III🖊️
News has been channeled in early from Japan today as former Unified RING/WBA/IBF Light-Flyweight Champion of the World ♛🇯🇵Ryoichi Taguchi (27-4-2, 12KO👊) officially called it quits. Taguchi is best remembered for his iron chin, most noted by Continue reading “Former Light-Flyweight King Ryoichi Taguchi Retires at 32 Years of Age🗞️”
WBO Flyweight Champion 
Kosei Tanaka (13-0-0, 7KO) and storied world class veteran Ryoichi Taguchi (27-4-2, 12KO) gave us a thriller this morning (or last night, depending on which part of the world you occupy), and delivered on the fights promise to produce yet another high action bout in the Flyweight division.
As usual, Taguchi (#4 WBO world contender) was very game, taking it to Tanaka, however Tanaka proved to be too skilled, with too many resources for Taguchi to overtake, as Tanaka willed his way to a competitive, but comfortable unanimous decision victory over the acclaimed challenger and former Junior-Flyweight kingpin, to defend his WBO Flyweight title for the 1st time.
Taguchi now has the claim of facing Japan’s 2 best fighters in Kosei Tanaka & Naoya Inoue, the only fighters that I felt he personally lost to. It would be interesting to hear him compare the two fighters…
While Kosei Tanaka is P4P one of the best boxers in the world, he is now also becoming one of the most exciting fighters in the world, earning the reputation of a warrior after enduring 4 or 5 fights in a row that either produced some type of real challenge, or difficult circumstances that he had to overcome in the middle of the fight, (tough fights against elite competition in Angel Acosta, Sho Kimua, Ryoichi Taguchi, surviving being knocked down by Ronnie Baldonado to get the TKO win, and ovecoming having both his orbital bones broken against Rangsan Chayanram, and still securing the victory).
The great Kosei Tanaka (12-0-0, 7KO) has made plenty of noise in the last few years en route to becoming a 3-Division Champion, and tying the mark that Vasiliy Lomachenko set in becoming the fastest to do so (12 fights).
Tanaka won his WBO Flyweight belt after his compelling “Fight of the Year” level contest with former Champ & countryman Sho Kimura. After enduring such a difficult fight, he’s wasting no time getting back in the ring with high level competition.
Former World Champion Ryoichi Taguchi (27-3-2, 12KO) has been one of the most underrated boxers of this past half a decade, where he put together a memorable run in the Light-Flyweight division, constantly mixing it up with some of the divisions best and becoming a Unified Champion.
He lost his titles in a razor close fight against South African Hekkie Budler in 2018, a fight that some observers felt should have went Taguchi’s way. Taguchi decided to try his luck by moving up to face someone in Tanaka who has garnered some P4P discussion from a few credible boxing publications, in pursuit to regain his status that he once had.
Just learned that undefeated 3-weight champion Kosei Tanaka (12-0, 7KO) and current WBO Flyweight title holder, will take on former IBF and WBA Light Flyweight “Super” Champion Ryoichi Taguchi (27-3-2, 12KO) on March 16th at the Gifu Memorial Center in Gifu, Japan.
There were hopes these two would meet when they were both title holders at Jr. Flyweight but that didn’t pan out after Tanaka suffered injuries to his eyes and then moved up in weight, while Taguchi beat Milan Melindo to unify titles.
COMBAT PROJECT 