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Eye injuries force history-maker Tanaka to retire

Kosei Tanaka smiles and raises his gloves Getty Images

Kosei Tanaka has been suffering with eye problems since 2021

Coral Barry
Combat sports senior journalist

Japan's Kosei Tanaka - the quickest fighter to win world titles in four weight divisions - has retired from boxing because of repeated eye injuries.

The 29-year-old collected WBO belts at strawweight, light-flyweight, flyweight and super-flyweight in just 21 fights.

However, speaking on his Instagram, he explained how impaired vision in his last fight in October contributed to losing his super-flyweight title to underdog Phumelele Cafu.

"Both eyes were in bad condition before the match," he said.

"Just after the start, I lost [vision] in my right eye and in the third round all the light completely disappeared."

He underwent an operation on both eyes after the contest but said that "vision in my right eye is distorted and I can't focus with both eyes".

Tanaka said the eye injuries stem in part from a hernia operation on his neck in 2021 and repeated surgery on his eyes, and that he is unable to spar anymore.

He won his first world title in five bouts to set a Japanese record and he is tied with Ukraine's Vasyl Lomachenko as the quickest fighter to win world titles in three weights (12 bouts). He then sured Oscar De La Hoya's four-weight record when he collected the WBO super-flyweight belt in February 2024.

Tanaka was 18 years old when he made his professional debut and has two defeats in 22 fights, having been beaten by South Africa's Cafu last year and by domestic rival Kazuto Ioka in 2020.

He fought his entire career in Japan and will go down as one of the country's greatest ever boxers, with a historic resume to match.

Kosei Tanaka is punched by Moises Fuentes in a fightGetty Images

Tanaka (left) was 21 years old when he won his first world title, stopping Moises Fuentes in five rounds in Gifu, Japan

Kosei Tanaka smiles with his arms over the ropes and his WBO title around his waistGetty Images

All of the world titles Tanaka won were WBO belts

Kosei Tanaka has his hand raised by the refereeGetty Images

Tanaka was 23 when he defeated fellow Japanese fighter Sho Kimura by majority decision in a 2018 fight of the year contender to become a three-weight world champion

Kosei Tanaka punches his opponentGetty Images

As a smaller weight fighter, Tanaka's accomplishments often went under the radar

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