Athlete of the Month – Daisuke Narimatsu

Daisuke Narimatsu vs. Yuta Akiyama

Athlete of the Month – Daisuke Narimatsu
Daisuke Narimatsu delivered great performance in the whole year and he dominated all of his contests in the 85th edition of the All Japan National Boxing Championships therefore the management of the Asian Boxing Confederation chosed him as Athlete of November.
Japan’s Daisuke Narimatsu was born in Kumamoto Prefecture on December 24 in 1989 while he began boxing relatively late only in 2005 at the age of 16. His coach is Yoshiyuki Hirano, who was also a successful boxer, and has been training in the Japan Self-Defense Forces Physical Training School.
His first main success in boxing was a silver medal at the 2009 Japanese National Boxing Championships when he defeated three experienced boxers and only Satoshi Shimizu could stop him in the gold medal bout. Narimatsu won his first national elite title one year later in 2010 when he could beat Chikashi Kawada in the final of the Bantamweight class (56 kg) after four years of boxing.
He was involved to the national squad in 2011 and Daisuke Narimatsu tried to qualify to the London 2012 Olympic Games in the AIBA Asian Olympic Qualifiers which was held in Astana, Kazakhstan. The Japanese boxer defeated Turkmenistan’s 19-year-old Myrat Pazzyyev but lost to Philippines’ Charly Suarez in the semi-final which meant he could not get the quota to London.
After the unsuccessful qualification events he won the Japanese National Athletic Meeting and also the Japanese National Championships still in 2012. Narimatsu raised his training sessions and defeated Kyrgyzstan’s strong Meder Mamakeyev in the 2013 ASBC Asian Confederation Boxing Championships in Amman but lost to Thailand’s two-time Olympian Saylom Ardee in the quarter-finals of the Lightweight class (60 kg).
Narimatsu won two contests in the Almaty 2013 AIBA World Boxing Championships and eliminated Tajikistan’s favourite Anvar Yunusov as well but he was defeated by Venezuela’s Luis Arcon in the third preliminary round before the medal bouts. Narimatsu was named as the most technician Japanese boxer in 2013.
He tried to prepare well to the Incheon 2014 Asian Games but Narimatsu lost to Kenji Fujita in the selection event when he moved down to the Bantamweight class (56 kg). Following that loss Narimatsu spent the whole year with trainings and moved back to the Lightweight class (60 kg) where his footwork and strength is the best to get good results.
He boxer travelled to the 2015 President’s Cup to Palembang, Indonesia as a favourite but he had very hard way to the final glory. The 26-year-old boxer defeated Thailand’s talented 18-year-old Somchay Wongsuwan and he was also too strong for Mongolia’s Incheon 2014 Asian Games winner Dorjnyambuu Otgondalai in the gold medal bout which was one of his most difficult contest.
Narimatsu arrived to the venue of the last edition of the ASBC Asian Confederation Boxing Championships to Bangkok as a secret favourite but he had a very strong opponent in the opening round 19-year-old Hursand Imankuliyev of Turkmenistan. The Japanese boxer could solve that issue and also eliminated Kyrgyzstan’s Akzhol Sulaymanbek Uulu and Vietnam’s Nguyen Van Hai in the capital city of Thailand. He was stopped by only Kazakhstan’s technician WSB star Zakir Safiullin in the semi-final which meant he claimed an amazing bronze medal in Bangkok.
Narimatsu defeated 23-year-old Kenji Fujita’s elder brother Yamato in the semi-final of the 85th edition of the All Japan National Boxing Championships in Iwate Prefecture and continued the winning path against his younger hope Yuta Akiyama in the final of the Lightweight class (60 kg).
Narimatsu had 118 bouts during his career since 2005 and has been training 20 hours in a week to prepare well to the main goals of next year. He is aiming for a quota to the Rio 2016 Olympic Games which is a realistic target while he is also focusing a bit to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.