Reiya Abe


Reiya Abe is a Japanese professional boxer.

Professional career

Early career

Rookie of the Year tournament

Abe made his professional debut against Tetsuya Hirokawa on 2 June 2013. He won the fight by unanimous decision. After suffering his first professional loss to Koki Kobayashi by unanimous decision on 29 July 2013, Abe won his next four fights to qualify for the featherweight event of the East Japan Rookie of the year tournament. Abe faced the undefeated Haruka Itakura in the tournament semifinals on 25 September 2014. He won the fight by a second-round technical knockout. Advancing to the East Japan Rookie of the Year tournament finals, which were held on 2 November 2014, Abe faced Naoto Moriya. He won the fight by a first-round knockout. He was awarded the "Fighting Award" at the post-fight ceremony.
Abe was booked to face the West Japan featherweight Rookie of the Year Kyohei Tonomoto on 21 December 2014 in the featherweight All Japan Rookie of the Year deciding match. He won the fight by unanimous decision. Two of the judges scored the bout 49–45 in his favor, while the third judge awarded Abe a 49–46 scorecard.

Rise up the ranks

After winning the All Japan Rookie title, Abe faced the twelve fight veteran Shingo Kusano. He lost the fight by majority decision, with scores of 58–57, 58–57 and 57–57. Abe rebounded by winning his next three fights, before rematching Shingo Kusano on 19 July 2016. He avenged his second professional loss by technical knockout, stopping Kusano in the fifth round. Abe faced Tsuyoshi Tameda on 17 October 2016, in his final fight of the year. He won the bout by an eight-round technical knockout.
Abe faced the WBC-ABC super featherweight champion Joe Noynay in a featherweight non-title bout on 28 February 2017. He won the fight by unanimous decision, with scores of 78–75, 77–75 and 77–76. Eight months later, on 2 October 2017, Abe faced the more experienced Satoshi Hosono. He won the fight by technical decision, with scores of 89–83, 90–81 and 89–83. The bout was stopped early in the ninth round, due to a cut above Hosono's right eye, which was caused by an accidental clash of heads.
Abe faced Daisuke Watanabe on 2 March 2018, in his first fight of the year. He won the fight by unanimous decision, with scores of 78–75, 78–75 and 79–73. After beating Masashi Noguchi in a stay-busy fight by a sixth-round stoppage on 1 September 2018, Abe was booked to face the unbeaten Daisuke Sugita in a Japanese title eliminator on 19 January 2019. He won the fight by unanimous decision, with one judge scoring the fight 79–71 for him, while the remaining two judges gave him all eight rounds of the bout.
Abe challenged the reigning Japanese featherweight champion Taiki Minamoto on 1 May 2019, in the main event of "Dangan 223" which took place at the Korakuen Hall. The fight was ruled a majority draw. Two judges scored the fight as an even 94–94 draw, while the third judge scored the fight 95–94 for Abe. Following this fight, Minamoto vacated the featherweight title. As such, the #2 ranked Japanese featherweight contender Abe was scheduled to face the #1 ranked contender Ryo Sagawa for the vacant belt on 13 September 2019. Sagawa won the fight by unanimous decision, with one judge scoring the fight 96–95 for him, while the remaining two judges scored the fight 96–94 for Sagawa.
Abe faced the undefeated Ren Sasaki on 13 October 2020, following a thirteen-month absence from the sport. He successfully rebounded from his two failed title bids with a unanimous decision victory. Two of the judges scored the fight 78–74 for Abe, while the third judge scored the fight 77–75 in his favor. Abe next faced Koshin Takeshima on 21 April 2021. He won the fight by technical decision, with scores of 67–64, 68–63 and 67–64. Abe next faced Daisuke Watanabe on 27 November 2021. He won the fight by a third-round stoppage, as Watanabe's corner opted to retire their fighter at the end of the round.

WBO Asia Pacific featherweight champion

Abe challenged the incumbent Japanese featherweight champion Hinata Maruta, in what was Maruta's second title defense, on 15 May 2022. The bout was scheduled as the event headliner for "Dangan 250", which took place at the Sumida City Gymnasium in Tokyo, Japan. Aside from the Japanese title, the vacant WBO Asia Pacific featherweight belt was on the line as well. He utilized outfighting tactics to outbox Maruta for the majority of the fight, en route to winning it by unanimous decision, with scores of 118–109, 116–111 and 115–112. On August 19, 2022, the Japanese Boxing Association named him their "Fighter of the Year".
Abe made the first defense of his Japanese and WBO Asia Pacific titles against the undefeated Jinki Maeda on 3 December 2022. He won the fight by majority decision, with two judges scoring the bout 117–111 and 116–112 for him, while the third judge had in an even 114–114 draw. Abe was named the December 2022 "Fighter of the Month" by the East Japan Boxing Association following this victory.
On 13 January 2023, the IBF ordered a final featherweight title eliminator between Abe and the former two-weight world champion Kiko Martínez. Abe vacated the Japanese featherweight title on the same day. The title eliminator bout was booked to take place on 8 April 2023, at the Ariake Arena in Ariake, Tokyo. He won the fight by unanimous decision, with two scorecards of 119–109 and one scorecard of 117–111.

Abe vs. Lopez

Abe was scheduled to challenge Luis Alberto Lopez for IBF featherweight title on March 2, 2024 in Verona, New York. He lost the fight via eighth round TKO.

Professional boxing record

No.ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes
33WinYuya OkuUD1019 Jun 2025Ota City General Gymnasium, Tokyo, JapanWon vacant Japanese featherweight title
32Draw26–4–2Satoshi ShimizuMD1025 Mar 2025Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
31Win26–4–1Hibiki KawamotoUD1018 Oct 2024Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
30Loss25–4–1Luis Alberto LopezTKO8, 0:392 Mar 2024Turning Stone Resort & Casino, Verona, New York, U.S.For IBF featherweight title
29Win25–3–1Kiko MartínezUD128 Apr 2023Ariake Arena, Tokyo, Japan
28Win24–3–1Jinki MaedaMD123 Dec 2022Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, JapanRetained Japanese and WBO Asia Pacific featherweight titles
27Win23–3–1Hinata MarutaUD1215 May 2022Sumida Ward General Gymnasium, Sumida, Tokyo, JapanWon Japanese featherweight and vacant WBO Asia Pacific featherweight titles
26Win22–3–1Daisuke Watanabe3, 3:0027 Nov 2021Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
25Win21–3–1Koshin TakeshimaTD7, 2:4221 Apr 2021Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
24Win20–3–1Ren SasakiUD813 Oct 2020Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
23Loss19–3–1Ryo SagawaUD1013 Sep 2019Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, JapanFor Japanese featherweight title
22Draw19–2–1Taiki Minamoto101 May 2019Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, JapanFor Japanese featherweight title
21Win19–2Daisuke SugitaUD819 Jan 2019Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
20Win18–2Masashi NoguchiTKO6, 2:251 Sep 2018Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
19Win17–2Daisuke WatanabeUD82 Mar 2018Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
18Win16–2Methawin KemthongTKO1, 1:1017 Dec 2017Shinjuku FACE, Tokyo, Japan
17Win15–2Satoshi Hosono9, 0:572 Oct 2017Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
16Win14–2Joe NoynayUD828 Feb 2017Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
15Win13–2Tsuyoshi TamedaTKO8, 0:5217 Oct 2016Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
14Win12–2Shingo KusanoTKO5, 1:4719 Jul 2016Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
13Win11–2Hikaru MarugameUD817 Mar 2016Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
12Win10–2Rokuhei SuzukiTKO6, 1:2122 Nov 2015Shinjuku FACE, Tokyo, Japan
11Win9–2Ryo HinoUD68 Aug 2015Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
10Loss8–2Shingo Kusano617 Mar 2015Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
9Win8–1Kyohei TonomotoUD521 Dec 2014Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, JapanWon All Japan Rookie of the Year title
8Win7–1Naoto MoriyaKO1, 1:532 Nov 2014Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, JapanWon East Japan Rookie of the Year title
7Win6–1Haruka ItakuraTKO2, 1:3425 Sep 2014Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
6Win5–1Yuichi KatayamaUD424 Jul 2014Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
5Win4–1Soreike Taichi1, 1:598 May 2014Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
4Win3–1Takeshi Yamagata2, 1:561 Apr 2014Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
3Win2–1Tasuku NakagawaUD48 Dec 2013Shinjuku FACE, Tokyo, Japan
2Loss1–1Koki KobayashiUD429 Jul 2013Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
1Win1–0Tetsuya Hirokawa42 Jun 2013City Sogo Gym, Chigasaki, Japan