Fighting Harada

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Fighting Harada

Statistics

Real name Masahiko Harada

Rated at Flyweight

Bantamweight

Featherweight

Height 5 ft 3 in (1.60 m)

Reach 64 in (163 cm)

Nationality Japanese
 Born April 5, 1943 (age 73)

Tokyo, Japan

Stance Orthodox

Boxing record

Total fights 62

Wins 55

Wins by KO 22

Losses 7

Draws 0

No contests 0

Masahiko Harada (born April 5, 1943), better known as Fighting Harada, is a former
world boxing champion in the Flyweight and Bantamweight divisions, and also challenged for the
Featherweight title twice. He is currently the president of the Japanese boxing association.
Harada was arguably one of Japan's most popular boxers; his fame reached international status,
and Puerto Rico'sWilfredo Gómez declared that Harada was his idol as a child.[1]

Contents
[hide]

 1Biography
 2Professional boxing record
 3See also
 4References
 5External links

Biography[edit]
Harada began fighting as a professional on February 21, 1960, knocking out Isami Masui in round four,
in Tokyo. He won his first twenty four bouts. Among the notables he beat during that span were Ken
Morita, who later became a respected boxing official and who was beaten by Harada on June 26 in the
first round, and future world championHiroyuki Ebihara, who was undefeated in nine fights before
meeting Harada and who was beaten by Harada on December 24, by a decision in six rounds.
On June 15, 1962, he suffered his first defeat, being beaten on points by Edmundo Esparza over ten
rounds in Tokyo.
After one more win, Harada received his first world title try: on October 10 of that year, he became the
lineal and WBAworld flyweight champion by knocking out Pone Kingpetch in the eleventh round, in
Tokyo.
A rematch followed, and Harada lost the title in his first defense, being outpointed by Kingpetch over
fifteen rounds on January 12, 1963 in Bangkok, Thailand. This was Harada's first fight outside Japan.
Harada posted four more wins in a row before losing by knockout in six to Jose Medel on September 26.
After that loss, Harada posted another winning streak, which reached seven before he was given another
world title shot. Among the boxers he beat was top contenders Ray Asis, Oscar Reyes, and Katsutoshi
Aoki.
On May 18, 1965, Harada extended his winning streak to eight, when he defeated Eder Jofre in Nagoya,
by a fifteen round decision, to win his second world title, the unified WBA
and WBC world bantamweight title. Jofre was undefeated in fifty fights coming into this bout, and
considered by many of his fans to be invincible.[2]
On November 30, he defeated perennial British contender Alan Rudkin by a fifteen round decision to
retain the title. On June 1, 1966, he and Jofre had a rematch in Tokyo, and Harada defeated Jofre once
again, by a fifteen round decision. Losing for the second time to Harada prompted Jofre to retire; he
would make a successful comeback three years later. Harada was the only boxer to beat Jofre.
After two more, non-title wins, Harada had a chance to avenge his defeat against Jose Medel. On
January 3, 1967, Harada retained his world bantamweight title with a fifteen round decision over Medel
in Nagoya.
On July 4 he retained the title against Colombian Bernardo Caraballo, a fighter who was well liked in his
country. Harada outpointed him over fifteen rounds.
On February 27, 1968, Lionel Rose became the first Australian aborigine to become a world boxing
champion, when he outpointed Harada over fifteen rounds in Tokyo. Having lost his world
bantamweight crown, Harada then set his sights on regaining it.
He won four of his next five fights. Among those he defeated were American Dwight Hawkins and his
countryman Nobuo Chiba. His lone loss during that span came at the hands of American Alton Colter by
a ten round, split decision. Then, he received another world title shot.
On July 28, 1969, after the WBA and WBC had split the world bantamweight title, Harada
fought Australia's Johnny Famechon for the WBC world featherweight belt. The fight was held
in Sydney, and the referee and only judge was the legendary former world featherweight
champion Willie Pep. Pep scored the fight a tie (draw), but Famechon's fans rallied over the call by
booing Pep, who then announced he had miscalculated his scorecard and actually had Famechon ahead,
making Harada a loser by a fifteen round decision. This fight was, nevertheless, controversial because of
the nature of its ending, and the WBC clamoured for a rematch.[3]
After a knockout win in eight rounds over Pat Gonzalez, the rematch came. Harada's management
wanted the fight to be held in Tokyo, and so, on January 6, 1970, Harada and Famechon met once again,
this time at Tokyo's Metropolitan Gym. Harada dropped the champion in round ten, but Famechon
recovered, knocking Harada off the ring in round fourteen and retaining the title by knockout in that
round. This was Harada's last fight as a professional.[4]
Harada led a rather quiet life after retirement. In 1996, he was elected into the International Boxing Hall
of Fame in Canastota, New York.[5] Coincidentally, Wilfredo Gómez was inducted in the same
ceremony. After Gómez expressed that Harada was his idol, Harada responded, using an interpreter, that
Gómez had, in turn, become one of his favorite fighters as well. Eder Jofre, one of the boxers Harada
beat to win world titles, is also enshrined at the IBHOF.
Masahiko Harada became president of the Japanese Boxing Commission in 2002.
On January 28, 2004, as he was driving home from his office, Harada experienced a headache and he
was found to have a brain hemorrhage which required hospitalisation. By 2005 he was recovering
steadily.[6]

Professional boxing record[edit]

55 Wins (22 knockouts, 33 decisions), 7 Losses (2 knockouts, 5 decisions), 0 Draws

Res Recor Typ Roun

Opponent Date Location Notes
. d e d

14 1970
Los Johnny Metropolitan
55–7 KO (15), -01- For WBC featherweight title.
s Famechon Gymnasium, Tokyo
1:09 06
8 1969
Wi Pat
55–6 KO (10), -10- Fukui, Fukui
n Gonzales
0:17 01
1969 Sydney
Los Johnny
54–6 PTS 15 -07- Stadium, Sydney, For WBC featherweight title.
s Famechon
28 New South Wales
1969
Wi Vil
54–5 UD 10 -06- Nagoya, Aichi
n Tumulak
04
1969
Los Alton
53–5 SD 10 -04- Tokyo
s Colter
02
2 1968
Wi Roy
53–4 KO (10), -12- Tokyo
n Amolong
1:55 04
7 1968
Wi Nobuo
52–4 KO (10), -09- Sano, Tochigi
n Chiba 1:13 04
1968
Wi Dwight
51–4 UD 10 -06- Tokyo
n Hawkins
05
1968
Los Lionel Nippon Lost WBC & WBA bantamweight titl
50–4 UD 15 -02- es.
s Rose Budokan, Tokyo
27
8 1967
Wi Soo Okayama City,
50–3 KO (12), -11-
n Bok Kwon Okayama
0:26 28
2 1967
Wi Hajime
49–3 KO (12), -09- Osaka, Osaka
n Taroura 1:52 25
1967
Wi Bernard Nippon Retained WBC & WBA bantamweigh
48–3 UD 15 -07- t titles.
n o Caraballo Budokan, Tokyo
04
 1967
Wi Tiny Fukuoka,
47–3 UD 12 -04-
n Palacio Fukuoka
04

1967 Aichi
Wi José Prefectural Retained WBC & WBA bantamweigh
46–3 UD 15 -01- t titles.
n Medel Gymnasium, Nagoy
03
a, Aichi
1966
Wi Antonio
45–3 UD 12 -10- Osaka, Osaka
n Herrera 25
1966
Wi Dio Sapporo,
44–3 UD 10 -08-
n Espinosa Hokkaido
01
1966
Wi Éder Nippon Retained WBC & WBA bantamweigh
43–3 UD 15 -05- t titles.
n Jofre Budokan, Tokyo
31
1966
Wi Soo
42–3 PTS 12 -02- Nagoya, Aichi
n Kang Suh 15
1965
Wi Alan Nippon Retained WBC & WBA bantamweigh
41–3 UD 15 -11- t titles.
n Rudkin Budokan, Tokyo
30
1965
Wi Katsuo
40–3 PTS 12 -07- Tokyo
n Saito 28

1965 Aichi
Wi Éder Prefectural Won WBC & WBA bantamweight titl
39–3 SD 15 -05- es.
n Jofre Gymnasium, Nagoy
18
a, Aichi
6 1965
Wi Dommy
38–3 KO (10), -01- Tokyo
n Froilan
1:20 04
3 1964
Wi Katsuto
37–3 KO (10), -10- Tokyo
n shi Aoki 2:54 29
1964
Wi Oscar
36–3 PTS 10 -09- Tokyo
n Reyes
17
1964 Sports
Wi Ray
35–3 UD 10 -07- Arena, Los Angeles,
n Asis
06 California
2 1964
Wi Somsak
34–3 KO (10), -02- Osaka, Osaka
n Laemfapha 1:05 14
5 1964
Wi Avelino
33–3 KO (10), -01- Tokyo
n Estrada
0:51 02
Wi 32–3 Emile PTS 10 1963 Tokyo
 n de Leon -11-
25
6 1963
Los José TK
31–3 (10), -09- Tokyo
s Medel O
2:28 26
1963
Wi Dommy
31–2 UD 10 -08- Tokyo
n Balajada
07
Thira 6 1963
Wi RT
30–2 Lodjarengab (10), -06- Nagoya, Aichi
n D
e 3:00 19
1 1963
Wi Jose
29–2 KO (10), -05- Naha, Okinawa
n Cejuda
0:28 04
1963
Wi Tetsuro
28–2 UD 10 -03- Tokyo
n Kawai 21

1963 National
Los Pone Stadium
27–2 MD 15 -01- Lost WBA flyweight title.
s Kingpetch Gymnasium, Bangk
12
ok
11 1962
Wi Pone Kokugikan, To
27–1 KO (15), -10- Won WBA flyweight title.
n Kingpetch kyo
2:50 10
1962
Wi Little
26–1 UD 10 -07- Tokyo
n Rufe
23
1962
Los Edmund
25–1 SD 10 -06- Tokyo
s o Esparza
14
1962
Wi Baby Korakuen
25–0 PTS 10 -05-
n Espinosa Gym, Tokyo
03
1962
Wi Tadao
24–0 UD 10 -03- Tokyo
n Kawamura 18
1962
Wi Kozo
23–0 UD 10 -01- Tokyo
n Nagata 12
1961
Wi Ryoji 6 (8),
22–0 KO -12- Nagoya, Aichi
n Shiratori 1:12
10
1961
Wi Akio
21–0 UD 10 -10- Osaka, Osaka
n Maki 09
3 1961
Wi Somban
20–0 KO (10), -09- Tokyo
n g Banbung 2:37 09
 8 1961
Wi Akio RT
19–0 (10), -07- Tokyo
n Maki D
3:00 31
1961
Wi Shigeru
18–0 UD 10 -06- Tokyo
n Ito 19
1961
Wi Ray
17–0 UD 10 -05- Tokyo
n Perez
01
1961
Wi Yasuo
16–0 UD 6 -03- Tokyo
n Fujita 05
1961
Wi Riichi
15–0 UD 6 -01- Tokyo
n Tanaka 28
1961
Wi Tsuyosh UD
14–0 6 -01- Tokyo
n i Nakamura 05
1960
Wi Hiroyuk
13–0 PTS 6 -12- Tokyo
n i Ebihara 24
1960
Wi Yoshino UD 3 (4),
12–0 -12- Tokyo
n ri Hikita 1:44
11
1960
Wi Hachiro
11–0 UD 4 -11- Tokyo
n Arai 07
1960
Wi Sadayos 4 (4),
10–0 KO -10- Tokyo
n hi Yoshida 1:02
28
1960
Wi Yukio
9–0 UD 4 -09- Tokyo
n Suzuki 01
1960
Wi Masaru RT 3 (4),
8–0 -07- Tokyo
n Kodangi D 3:00
18
1960
Wi Kazuo 1 (4), Shinagawa
7–0 KO -06-
n Morita 1:25 Hall, Tokyo
24
1960
Wi Masatak TK 3 (4),
6–0 -06- Tokyo
n e Ogura O 2:16
10
1960
Wi Ken
5–0 UD 4 -04- Tokyo
n Morita 13
1960
Wi Yuichi
4–0 UD 4 -04- Tokyo
n Noguchi 04
 1960
Wi Goro 3 (4), Asakusa
3–0 KO -03-
n Iwamoto 2:53 Hall, Tokyo
27
1960
Wi Mitsuo
2–0 SD 4 -03- Tokyo
n Motohashi 02

196
Wi Isami TK 4 (4), 0- Tokyo
1–0
n Masui O 2:20 02-
21