Ryuji Hara boxer

Ryuji Hara (原隆二, Hara Ryuji, born 10 July 1990) is a Japanese professional boxer who currently competes in the minimumweight division. He is a former OPBF minimumweight champion.Ryuji Hara was born in Itō, Shizuoka on July 10, 1990. He initially wanted to be a jockey, and even passed the strict test. However, after winning the National High School Boxing Championship (his first of four), he decided to focus on boxing. His amateur record was 36-2 (16 KO).Hara made his professional debut in 2010, and won the All-Japan Minimumweight Rookie Tournament in November.After an impressive 12-0 start to his career, Hara received a shot at the vacant Japanese minimumweight title. He defeated veteran fighter Kenichi Horikawa by unanimous decision on October 2, 2012 in Tokyo for the belt.After three successful defenses, Hara defeated Donny Mabao for the vacant OPBF minimumweight title on March 30, 2014 in Fuji by majority decision.By this time, he was ranked in the top four by all four major boxing organizations (#2 WBA, #2 WBO, #4 WBC, #5 IBF). Instead of waiting for a world title match, Hara make the risky decision to defend his OPBF belt against up-and-coming fighter Kosei Tanaka on October 30, 2014 in Tokyo. Tanaka won by 10th round TKO.