Four-weight world champion Kosei Tanaka has been forced to hang up his gloves at just 29 years old due to repeated eye injuries.
The Japanese fighter picked up world titles from strawweight to super flyweight during a 22-fight career (20-2).
Along with Vasyl Lomachenko, he is the joint quickest fighter to win world titles in three separate weight classes, having achieved the feat in only 12 bouts.
He also surpassed Oscar De La Hoya to become the fastest four-weight world champion of all time when he defeated Christian Bacasegua for the WBO junior-bantamweight crown in his 21st outing.
Tanaka subsequently dropped the red and gold strap in his first defence to Phumelele Cafu last October in what turned out to be his final bow as a professional.
He underwent surgery on both of his eyes after the defeat, but the operations were unable to fix his impaired vision, and so his career has been cut short.
“I’m retiring as a professional boxer,” Tanaka wrote on social media on Wednesday.
“11 years of professional life… The reason is all about my repeated eye injuries…
“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 brittle, and I can no longer spar, let alone compete.
“I decided to retire because there was no way for me to get into the ring.”
Tanaka enjoyed a fruitful amateur career, winning four national high school titles.
He turned over at 18 years old and won his first world title, the WBO strawweight belt, in his fifth outing by stopping Ryuji Hara in inside 10 rounds.
GettyTanaka won world titles in four weight classes[/caption] AFPTanaka picked up three world titles in 12 fights and four belts in 21[/caption]After one defence, Tanaka moved up to junior-flyweight, where he snatched the WBO’s version of the world title from Moises Fuentes.
Tanaka retained the belt twice before jumping up in weight again to flyweight.
There, he outpointed Sho Kimura for the WBO 112lbs crown, which he defended thrice.
He first attempted to become a four-weight world champion in December 2020, where he squared off against future Hall of Famer Kazuto Ioka for the WBO super flyweight strap.
‘The Monster of Chukyo’ was subsequently stopped in the eighth round in what marked his first defeat as a pro.
Tanaka re-grouped and earned himself a shot at the world title four years later, to this time, successfully achieve four-weight supremacy with a win over Bacasegua.
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