Former Japanese super bantamweight champion Hiroaki Yokota will return to the ring and become the oldest Japanese boxer in action, officials of the Japan Boxing Commission said Wednesday.
Yokota, who turns 42 on Sunday, has decided to take advantage of the new JBC system which allows a boxer with a national title or world title challenge experience to compete beyond the standard age limit of 37, if the applicant passes a required physical.
After capturing the national title in 1990 and successfully defending it three times, Yokota faced World Boxing Association super bantamweight champ Wilfred Vasquez of Puerto Rico in November 1993, only to lose a 12-round decision. He retired in 1998.