Kai Ishizawa: Boxing Career and Notable Fights
Kai Ishizawa is a Japanese minimumweight boxer. On January 11, 2022, he stopped Katsuki Mori in the eighth round to win the vacant Japanese minimumweight championship. The Japan Boxing Commission listed Ishizawa as champion in its February 2022 ratings. Boxing News (Japan) · Japan Boxing Commission.
Ishizawa later challenged WBO minimumweight champion Masataka Taniguchi on April 22, 2022. Taniguchi stopped him in the 11th round; Ishizawa had missed weight, so only Taniguchi could retain the title. Boxing News (Japan) report.
How Ishizawa won the Japanese title
The Mori bout was scheduled for ten rounds at Tokyo’s Korakuen Hall. Ishizawa entered as the top-ranked domestic contender, while Mori was ranked third. Their exchanges remained competitive before Ishizawa produced the decisive combination in round eight. The stoppage came at 2:50, giving him the national championship.
The belt had become vacant after Taniguchi moved to world-title success against Wilfredo Méndez in December 2021. Ishizawa’s January victory therefore filled the opening left by the same boxer he would face at world level three months later.
A second meeting with Taniguchi
The April 2022 contest was a rematch of their September 2019 Japanese-title eliminator, which Taniguchi had won. In the later fight, Taniguchi used lateral movement and left hands to counter Ishizawa’s forward pressure. Referee Michiaki Someya stopped the contest at 2:29 of the eleventh round.
These two 2022 bouts mark distinct stages in Ishizawa’s career: winning Japan’s national championship against Mori, then facing an established world champion. Keeping those levels separate gives a more precise account of his achievements and the challenge he encountered in the Taniguchi rematch.
Further career results
Ishizawa weighed 110 pounds on his second attempt before the Taniguchi rematch, five pounds above the championship limit of 105. The eventual defeat left him with ten victories and two losses, both defeats against Taniguchi. The same opponent therefore accounted for the setback in his earlier domestic eliminator and the loss in his later world-level assignment.
Sources
Additional sources: https://www.boxingscene.com/articles/masataka-taniguchi-stops-kai-ishizawa-11th-round-retains-wbo-title-tokyo
- Boxing News (Japan): Ishizawa wins Japanese title against Mori
- Japan Boxing Commission: February 2022 ratings
- Boxing News (Japan): Taniguchi stops Ishizawa
- BoxingScene: Taniguchi stops Ishizawa
