Latest news with #PhumeleleCafu
RNZ News
a day ago
- Health
- RNZ News
Boxing: Eye injuries force Japan's four-division world champion Kosei Tanaka to retire
Japan's Kosei Tanaka poses for photographs in July 2024. Photo: AFP The Japanese fighter is the fastest boxer to earn belts at four different weights, winning the WBO strawweight, light-flyweight, flyweight and super-flyweight titles in 21 fights, surpassing American Oscar De La Hoya's record of 24 fights. Having made his professional debut at 18, Tanaka retires with a record of 20-2. His last fight was in October when he lost to South Africa's Phumelele Cafu. He said he underwent surgery on both eyes after the bout. "I'm retiring as a professional boxer. 11 years of professional life ... The reason is all about my repeated eye injuries...," Tanaka posted on social media. "Due to the effects of hernia operations on my neck and many, many operations on my eyes alone in the four years from 2021, my eyes have become brittle and I can no longer spar, let alone compete. "I decided to retire because there was no way for me to get into the ring." - Reuters
RNZ News
2 days ago
- General
- RNZ News
Boxing: Eye injuries forces Japan's four-division world champion Kosei Tanaka to retire
Japan's Kosei Tanaka poses for photographs in July 2024. Photo: AFP The Japanese fighter is the fastest boxer to earn belts at four different weights, winning the WBO strawweight, light-flyweight, flyweight and super-flyweight titles in 21 fights, surpassing American Oscar De La Hoya's record of 24 fights. Having made his professional debut at 18, Tanaka retires with a record of 20-2. His last fight was in October when he lost to South Africa's Phumelele Cafu. He said he underwent surgery on both eyes after the bout. "I'm retiring as a professional boxer. 11 years of professional life ... The reason is all about my repeated eye injuries...," Tanaka posted on social media. "Due to the effects of hernia operations on my neck and many, many operations on my eyes alone in the four years from 2021, my eyes have become brittle and I can no longer spar, let alone compete. "I decided to retire because there was no way for me to get into the ring." - Reuters
Japan Times
2 days ago
- Sport
- Japan Times
Four-division world champion Kosei Tanaka retires at 29 due to eye injuries
Four-division world champion Kosei Tanaka has called time on his professional career at the age of 29 due to repeated eye injuries. Tanaka is the fastest boxer to earn belts at four different weights, winning the WBO strawweight, light flyweight, flyweight and super flyweight titles in 21 bouts, surpassing American Oscar De La Hoya's record of 24 fights. Having made his professional debut at 18, Tanaka retires with a record of 20-2. His last fight was in October when he lost to South Africa's Phumelele Cafu. He said he underwent surgery on both eyes after the bout. "I'm retiring as a professional boxer. 11 years of professional life. The reason is all about my repeated eye injuries" Tanaka posted on social media on Wednesday. "Due to the effects of hernia operations on my neck and many, many operations on my eyes alone in the four years from 2021, my eyes have become brittle and I can no longer spar, let alone compete. "I decided to retire because there was no way for me to get into the ring."
Reuters
2 days ago
- Sport
- Reuters
Japan's four-division world champion Tanaka retires at 29 due to eye injuries
June 5 (Reuters) - Four-division world champion Kosei Tanaka has called time on his professional career at the age of 29 due to repeated eye injuries, the Japanese fighter said. Tanaka is the fastest boxer to earn belts at four different weights, winning the WBO strawweight, light-flyweight, flyweight and super-flyweight titles in 21 bouts, surpassing American Oscar De La Hoya's record of 24 fights. Having made his professional debut at 18, Tanaka retires with a record of 20-2. His last fight was in October when he lost to South Africa's Phumelele Cafu. He said he underwent surgery on both eyes after the bout. "I'm retiring as a professional boxer. 11 years of professional life ... The reason is all about my repeated eye injuries...," Tanaka posted on social media on Wednesday. "Due to the effects of hernia operations on my neck and many, many operations on my eyes alone in the four years from 2021, my eyes have become brittle and I can no longer spar, let alone compete. "I decided to retire because there was no way for me to get into the ring."
BBC News
3 days ago
- General
- BBC News
Eye injuries force history-maker Tanaka to retire
Japan's Kosei Tanaka - the quickest fighter to win world titles in four weight divisions - has retired from boxing because of repeated eye 29-year-old collected WBO belts at strawweight, light-flyweight, flyweight and super-flyweight in just 21 speaking on his Instagram, he explained how impaired vision in his last fight in October contributed to losing his super-flyweight title to underdog Phumelele Cafu."Both eyes were in bad condition before the match," he said."Just after the start, I lost [vision] in my right eye and in the third round all the light completely disappeared."He underwent an operation on both eyes after the contest but said that "vision in my right eye is distorted and I can't focus with both eyes". Tanaka said the eye injuries stem in part from a hernia operation on his neck in 2021 and repeated surgery on his eyes, and that he is unable to spar won his first world title in five bouts to set a Japanese record and he is tied with Ukraine's Vasyl Lomachenko as the quickest fighter to win world titles in three weights (12 bouts). He then surpassed Oscar De La Hoya's four-weight record when he collected the WBO super-flyweight belt in February was 18 years old when he made his professional debut and has two defeats in 22 fights, having been beaten by South Africa's Cafu last year and by domestic rival Kazuto Ioka in fought his entire career in Japan and will go down as one of the country's greatest ever boxers, with a historic resume to match.
