is a Japanese

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regulatory autho ...

. He held the

IBF The International Boxing Federation (IBF) is one of four major organizations recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) which sanctions professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), World Boxing Counci ...

super-bantamweight Super bantamweight, also known as junior featherweight, is a weight class in professional boxing, contested from and up to . There were attempts by boxing promoters in the 1920s to establish this weight class, but few sanctioning organizations or ...

title from 2017 to 2018 and the

interim An interim is a period of temporary pause or change in a sequence of events, or a temporary state, and is often applied to transitional political entities. Interim may also refer to: Temporary organizational arrangements (general concept) *Provis ...

version from 2019 to April 2021. He also challenged from the unified

WBA (Super) The World Boxing Association (WBA), formerly known as the National Boxing Association (NBA), is the oldest and one of four major organizations which sanction professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Council (WBC), International B ...

and IBF super-bantamweight titles in April 2021.

Career

Iwasa turned pro in 2008, after winning national titles as an amateur and accruing a 60–6 record. Iwasa was considered a highly touted prospect until he lost a bout for the Japanese

bantamweight Bantamweight is a weight class in combat sports. For boxing, the range is above and up to . In kickboxing, a bantamweight fighter generally weighs between . In MMA, bantamweight is . The name for the class is derived from bantam chickens. Bra ...

title against future world champion

Shinsuke Yamanaka is a Japanese former professional boxer who competed from 2006 to 2018. He held the WBC bantamweight title from 2011 to 2017, a reign where he made twelve successful defences and a reign which is the fourth longest in boxing's bantamweight div ...

. Iwasa would eventually win that title, as well as the

OPBF The Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation (OPBF) is a professional boxing organization that sanctions title fights in the Asian and Pacific region. History Oriental boxing started in the Philippines in 1946 after the Spanish-American War. While ...

title. Iwasa's first world title fight would come against

Lee Haskins Lee Haskins (born 29 January 1983) is a British former professional boxer who competed between 2003 and February 2020. He held the IBF bantamweight title from 2015 to 2017, and the IBF interim title in 2015. At regional level, he held the Comm ...

for the interim

bantamweight title in June 2015. Iwasa would be stopped in round 6 after being knocked down by a left hook from Haskins. Following that loss, Iwasa moved to the

super bantamweight Super bantamweight, also known as junior featherweight, is a weight class in professional boxing, contested from and up to . There were attempts by boxing promoters in the 1920s to establish this weight class, but few sanctioning organizations o ...

division. In his fifth fight at that weight, Iwasa defeated Yukinori Oguni for the IBF super bantamweight title. Iwasa battered the defending champion, dropping him three times before the fight was stopped in round 6. In his first title defense, Iwasa faced Ernesto Saulong. Iwasa retained his IBF super bantamweight title for the first time, via unanimous decision. His second title defense came against Irishman T. J. Doheny. Doheny was the busier man on the night, outjabbing Iwasa for most of the fight. However, Iwasa seemed to be more precise and causing more visible damage to Doheny. Even to Doheny's slight surprise, all three judges scored the fight in his favor, leaving Iwasa without his belt in only his second defense. Iwasa bounced back in the next fight, called as an IBF final eliminator, by defeating Cesar Juarez via technical decision. Both fighters clashed heads in the second round that opened cuts for both, but it was Juarez who took more damage in the remainder of the fight. The fight was called off in the tenth round, and since Iwasa was up on two of the scorecards, he got awarded the victory. In his next fight, Iwasa fought Marlon Tapales for the interim IBF super bantamweight belt. Iwasa was ranked #1 by the IBF at the time, while Tapales was #3 at super bantamweight. Iwasa outboxed Tapales for most of the fight, before rocking him with a well-placed overhand left in the eleventh round. Tapales beat the count, but was stumbling when the referee asked if he could continue, which prompted the referee to stop the fight and award Iwasa the TKO win.

Professional boxing record

References

External links

*
Ryosuke Iwasa - Profile, News Archive & Current Rankings
a
Box.Live
{{DEFAULTSORT:Iwasa, Ryosuke 1989 births Living people People from Kashiwa Japanese male boxers Sportspeople from Chiba Prefecture Bantamweight boxers Super-bantamweight boxers World super-bantamweight boxing champions International Boxing Federation champions

Career

Professional boxing record

See also

References

External links