Japanese two-division champion Hiroto Kyoguchi is tying the knot to his professional boxing career, becoming the second renowned Japanese fighter to retire in two months after countryman Kosei Tanaka. Aside from becoming a world champion on two occasions, Kyoguchi also challenged for the world title most recently and closes a short but pivotal chapter to a prominent career.
Entering the professional ranks in 2016, Hiroto Kyoguchi had no prominent amateur career to speak of ― making him one of few fighters to attain his world title achievements without an amateur pedigree.
Hiroto Kyoguchi began his career at junior flyweight (108 lbs) though settled at minimumweight (105 lbs) by his third fight. It took only a year for Kyoguchi to begin winning continental titles while remaining unbeaten and retaining a notable knockout (KO) streak. In the same year he won and defended the Oriental and Pacific 105-pound title, Kyoguchi won a hard-fought battle against then-incumbent IBF champion, Jose Argumedo (24-5-1, 15 KO’s) from Mexico, to claim the IBF minimumweight title.
Kyoguchi defended the IBF title twice, facing future Filipino rival Vince Paras (24-3-1, 18 KO’s) in a last defense of the title before moving up to 108 lbs in 2018. There, the Japanese fighter found success again after stopping South African WBA junior flyweight champion Hekkie Budler to become a two-weight champion.
The WBA title was defended four times by Hiroto Kyoguchi over the next years before he lost the title in 2022 to countryman Kenshiro Teraji (25-1, 16 KO’s) ― the current unified [WBA & WBC] flyweight (112 lbs) champion.
The ensuing years saw Kyoguchi struggle to regain the same success as he moved up to flyweight and settled there. After two fights in 2023 to climb back up the rankings, the Japanese two-weight champion faced rival Vince Paras for a second bout that ended in a unanimous decision (UD) defeat. Their third match, held in the same year, saw Kyoguchi come out on top and position himself as a world title challenger.
Earlier this year in March, Hiroto Kyoguchi faced American WBO flyweight champion Anthony Olascuaga (9-1, 6 KO’s) but stumbled into a UD loss ― the third of his career.
Despite the sour ending to his career, Hiroto Kyoguchi has carved out a significant career as he would go on to state in his address to the public:
“Thank you very much. I started boxing when I was 12-years-old, with the dream of becoming a world champion,” Kyoguchi stated.
“I’ve continued boxing and had a professional career that went beyond what I imagined. I became a world champion from the one year and three months since my debut, and from there I moved up and became a world champion in two weight classes. And I was [also] able to take on the huge challenge of fighting in three weight classes.
“In the latter half of my professional career ― about three to four years later, I realized I was able to work hard in the latter half of my career because I felt a strong sense of gratitude for the support of many people. Thank you for all the support.”
Hiroto Kyoguchi retires at the rather spring age of 31 with a record of nineteen wins, with twelve coming by knockout, and just three losses.
The Japanese former champion also signified plans to continue highlighting his post-boxing career on YouTube and further stated interest in becoming a boxing commentator.
