Norihito Tanaka: Boxing Career and Notable Fights
Norihito Tanaka is a Japanese minimumweight who challenged Thailand’s Panya Pradabsri for the WBC title twice. Pradabsri won their first meeting by unanimous decision in August 2022 and stopped Tanaka in the eighth round of their June 2023 rematch.
Both bouts took place in Thailand. They are among the clearest milestones in Tanaka’s record as a world-title challenger.
Domestic success before the world challenges
Tanaka defeated Shin Ono by an eighth-round stoppage in January 2019. The result also brought recognition in the WBA rankings, whose published movement report placed him at number twelve after beating a rated opponent.
He challenged WBA champion Knockout CP Freshmart, also known as Thammanoon Niyomtrong, on March 3, 2020, in Nakhon Sawan. Niyomtrong won a twelve-round unanimous decision after scoring a third-round knockdown.
Two meetings with Pradabsri
The first WBC challenge followed in August 2022 in Nakhon Ratchasima. The WBC’s report described Pradabsri working effectively at mid-range and landing combinations throughout the contest. Tanaka completed the distance, but the champion won on all three cards.
The June 2023 rematch produced a different ending, with Pradabsri stopping Tanaka in round eight. Both were unsuccessful attempts to take the same WBC belt, separate from the earlier WBA contest against Niyomtrong.
The video above features highlights of the 2022 decision bout. Its date and opponent help distinguish it from the rematch and the 2020 title challenge. Together, these contests place Tanaka’s career within a sequence of major opportunities in Thailand, with his earlier victory over Ono forming part of the path that preceded them.
Further career results
The Niyomtrong fight produced wide scorecards of 119–108 and 120–107 twice. Tanaka completed the twelve rounds after the third-round knockdown, but the champion held a substantial advantage with every judge. The verdict left Niyomtrong unbeaten in twenty-one professional contests at the time, while Tanaka’s next world-title opportunities would come against a different Thai champion under the WBC.
Sources
Additional sources: https://der-farang.com/de/pages/knockout-bleibt-wba-weltmeister
- WBC: 2022 Pradabsri–Tanaka report
- Fightnews: 2020 Niyomtrong–Tanaka report
- The Ring: Panya Pradabsri’s career and title fights
- BoxRec: Norihito Tanaka record
- BoxRec: WBC minimumweight title fights
