Fan-favorite fighter Hozumi Hasegawa was known for being in exciting fights, as he stayed at the top of boxing for years.
Before Japanese fight fans had brutal knockout machine Naoya Inoue, they had Hasegawa.
The former three-division world champion hung up his gloves in 2016, spelling the end of a 17-year career. When he retired, his professional record stood at 36-5.
The fighter retired with 16 knockouts to his name, with Hasegawa scoring a stoppage in his final career bout.
Despite being a dominant champion for many years, he was dethroned in a brutal way in 2010.
Hozumi Hasegawa lost his world bantamweight title to Fernando Montiel in 2010
In April 2005, Hasegawa would become a world champion for the first time. Defeating Veeraphol Sahaprom from Thailand, the Japanese fighter increased his professional record to 17-2.
The win was also Hasegawa’s 14th in a row.
As he became world champion, the fighter continued his good form, as Hasegawa would remain undefeated for five years. In this span, he defended his WBC World Bantamweight title 10 times.
Among these 10 title defenses, he scored five stoppages, all in a row from 2008-2009.
Looking to make the 11th defense of his belt, he faced Mexican fighter Fernando Montiel.
Montiel had a professional record of 41-2-2 when he faced Hasegawa. The two fought in Tokyo, as Montiel was a former super flyweight and flyweight champion.
With a brutal stoppage, the Mexican would be able to dethrone the dominant champion. In the final seconds of the fourth round, a left hand from Montiel would meet the champion, who was put on unstable legs.
As Hasegawa was rocked, he was unable to correctly defend himself. After taking several unanswered shots, the referee called off the bout.
Despite becoming winning the belt in 2010, Montiel would drop his status as champion in 2011. Losing to then-future Inoue opponent Nonito Donaire, he was defeated for the third time in his career.
As for Hasegawa, he decided to make a divisional move.
Hozumi Hasegawa moved to the featherweight division after world title loss
Despite having such a long reign as bantamweight champion, Hasegawa did not look to reclaim his title or join the list of undisputed champions in the four-belt era. Instead, the Japanese fighter moved to featherweight.
Challenging for the vacant WBC World Featherweight title, Hasegawa would face undefeated Juan Carlos Burgos.
Hasegawa would be victorious over the then-future Devin Haney opponent, winning via unanimous decision. However, he would not be able to defend his new title.
Once again bested by a Mexican, Hasegawa would lose the first fight of his featherweight title reign to Jhonny Gonzalez. The challenger earned a fourth-round knockout over the champion.