Four-weight world champion Kosei Tanaka has called a day on his career at the age of just 29 due to a series of eye injuries.
A world champion at strawweight in just his fifth fight, Tanaka would go onto earn the WBO belt at light-flyweight, flyweight, and super-flyweight.
The fastest Japanese fighter to become a world champion, “Dream Boy” would equal Vasiliy Lomachenko’s 12-fight record to become a three-division title holder, before breaking the 21 bouts it took Oscar De La Hoya to win belts in four weight classes. Tanaka achieved this feat in 20.
The Japanese fighter retires with a record of 20-2, with 11 of his wins coming by way of knockout.
Translated from his native Japanese into English, Tanaka’s message on Instagram read: “11 years of professional life. Thank you so much for all your support over the years. The reason is all about my repeated eye injuries.
“The last defence match took place on 14 October (2024). The condition of both eyes was bad before the fight and I decided to have surgery on both eyes immediately after the fight.”
He added: “However, immediately after the start of the match, I lost sight in my right eye and by the third round, all the light had completely disappeared. With my left eye also in a bad state, I finished the match and underwent surgery on both eyes.”
While the surgery was successful in restoring Tanaka’s vision, his eyesight did not return to the same quality as before his injuries.
He continued: “My vision was restored, but even now my right eye’s vision is still heavily distorted and I can no longer focus with both eyes. Due to the effects of hernia operations on my neck and many, many operations on my eyes alone in the four years from 2021, my eyes have become weak, and I can no longer spar, let alone compete.”
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He concluded: “I decided to retire because there was no way for me to get into the ring.”
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