Japan’s ASBC Asian Boxing Championships silver medallist Sewon Okazawa helps to repair the flooded gym

Japan’s ASBC Asian Boxing Championships silver medallist Sewon Okazawa spent his time in the boxing gym in the recent weeks but he stopped the preparations for the Tokyo Olympic Games due to a serious flood which affected his environment and the club. The 24-year-old welterweight (69kg) boxer is helping to repair the flooded gym and to support the local community after the serious damages.

His boxing gym was hit by a tough torrential rain which affected mostly the Kanoya region of the southwestern prefecture of Kagoshima in the recent days. All of the four treadmills in the gym, gloves, banners and other boxing equipment have been covered by mud after the heavy rains in Okazawa’s region.

Sewon Okazawa’s father arrived from Ghana to Japan therefore he has strong genetics and physical skills in our sport. He began his boxing career at the age of 16 in 2011 and following his early experiences in the sport, Okazawa claimed his first Japanese national title in 2018 when he defeated the previous bests of his weight class such as ASBC Asian Youth Boxing Championships bronze medallist Issei Aramoto and Hiroaki Kinjo.

The Bangkok 2019 ASBC Asian Elite Boxing Championships was his first international competition out of Japan but he defeated three strong opponents including Jordan’s Asian Games bronze medallist Zeyad Eshaish and China’s Olympian Maimaitituersun Qiong. Okazawa advanced to the final of the continental event and achieved silver following his narrow loss to Uzbekistan’s Bobo-Usmon Baturov.

Okazawa won two tough fights also at the Yekaterinburg 2019 AIBA World Boxing Championships last September and reached the quarter-finals in Russia where only eventual silver medallist Pat McCormack of England stopped him in a hectic fight. Following that event, Okazawa won the Olympic Test Event in Tokyo and remained on the top at the Japanese National Championships.

Okazawa qualified for the Tokyo Olympic Games through the Asian & Oceanian Olympic Boxing Qualifying Event in Amman where he won his important Box-off. Okazawa supported the local community in the previous days together with his coach Mr. Shunya Aratake. The Japanese Boxing Federation sent new boxing equipment for Sewon Okazawa and Kazuma Aratake to continue their preparations as soon as possible.

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