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5'2" junior bantamweight Manami Arima
(aka "Tenkai Tsunami", 天海ツナミ) was born on August 13, 1984 in the
distant island
province of Okinawa, Japan. When her family moved from
Okinawa to
Kagoshima
to seek a better life on the mainland, her
stepfather's
relatives wanted to adopt Manami and her five siblings but her
mother kept the family together. Manami says
that the children
lived with their grandparents who brought them up in strict traditional
ways. After high school, she got
a job at a car parts factory in nearby Kyushu where her
mother also
worked. One day in 2003, her friend Mutsumi Maedo ("Tenku Tsubasa",
天空ツバサ) called to say that
she was moving to Tokyo to become a boxer and asked Manami to join
her there.
Manami
now boxes professionally out of the Yamaki Gym in Tokyo under the ring
name Tenkai Tsunami. She and Mutsumi Maedo both train
with Toshihiro Yamaki, the former kickboxer who had introduced
women's boxing to Japan in 1999.
Yamaki saw Manami Arima's potential and thought he could make her
into a champion, guiding her to a world title in just four
years.
The Yamaki Boxing Gym follows the samurai way of "Bushido".
Although she is a gentle girl outside the ring, Manami sees
herself an athlete who follows samurai rules of fair play and
good
manners while "putting on a show and kicking butt" once inside
the
ring.
She made her pro debut at the
Town Hall in Kitazawa, Tokyo on June 12, 2005, winning by a third-round
TKO over fellow debuter Maki Ochiai who has not fought since.
On October 1, 2005
at Roppongi Velfarre in Tokyo, Junko Minigawa (116¾ lbs) won a
four-round decision over Manami (116¾ lbs), evening her own record at
1-1.
On November 12, 2005 at
Okcheon Gymnasium in Okchun, South Korea, Manami (112 lbs) won a
ten-round split decision over Ji-Hyun Kim (112 lbs) of South Korea for
the vacant OPFBA Flyweight Title. Kim fell to 2-5 (0
KO's) and has not fought since.
On November 20, 2005 at
Okayama, Japan, Manami won a four-round unanimous decision over Junko
Kanbara of Japan, who was making her pro debut.
On April 22, 2006 at Shingoo
University in Seongnam City, South Korea, Ju-Hee Kim (107¼ lbs) of
Seoul, South Korea won a 10-round unanimous decision over Manami (108
lbs) for the IFBA Junior Flyweight title. Kim improved to
10-1-1 (3 KO's) with the win.
On October 12, 2006 at Halla
Gymnasium in Jeju, South Korea, Manami (117½ lbs) won a six-round
unanimous decision over Tian Meng (117¾ lbs) of China, who fell to 2-2
(0 KO's) with the loss.
On December 15, 2006 in Tokyo,
Manami (113¼ lbs) TKO'd Seri (112 lbs) in the first round of a
scheduled four-rounder, dropping Seri's record to 0-1-1.
On April 15, 2007 at Shinjuku,
Tokyo, Japan, Manami won a six-round decision over 28-year-old Tomoko
Koga of Hakata Kyoei Boxing Gym in Fukuoka, Japan, who fell to 3-4-4 (2
KO's).
On May 13, 2007 at Okayama,
Japan, Manami won a four-round unanimous decision over Aya Tamaki of
Japan who fell to 2-2 (0 KO's).
On June 24, 2007 at Shinjuku,
Tokyo, Japan, Manami (108 lbs) knocked out Ayaka Miyao (108 lbs) of
Yokokama, Japan in the second round of a scheduled eight-rounder. Miyao
fell to 4-4-4 (0 KO's) with this loss.
On August 13, 2007 at Yongsan
Gu Park in Seoul, South Korea, 21-year-old Young-Mi Jo (5'4", 123½ lbs)
of Seoul won an eight-round majority (76-76,77-76,77-76) decision over
Manami (121¼ lbs) and advanced her own record to 6-1 (1 KO).
On November 10, 2007 at Shinjuku FACE, Shinjuku,
Tokyo, Japan, Manami (111 lbs) won an eight-round unanimous decision
over 44-year-old Kazumi Izaki (5′7½", 111¼ lbs) of Yokohama, Japan who
fell to 6-6-3.
On May 18, 2008 at
Yangcheongu Hall in Seoul, South Korea, Manami (116¾ lbs) won a
ten-round unanimous (97-96,98-94,96-94) decision over Eun-Young Kim
(5'5",118 lbs) of Daegu, South Korea for Kim's IFBA Bantamweight
title. Kim fell to 8-3-0 (0 KO's) with the loss.
On August 15, 2008 at Citizen
Gymnasium in Daegu, South Korea, Manami (117¾ lbs) won a ten-round
majority (96-95,95-94,95-95) decision over Eun-Young Kim (117¾ lbs) in
a rematch for the IFBA bantamweight title. Kim fell to 8-4-0 (0 KO's)
with the loss.
On November 30, 2008 at the
Convention Center in Ginowan, Okinawa, Japan, Manami (116½ lbs) won by
a fifth round TKO over Soo-Hyun Oh (5'3", 117 lbs) of Seoul, South
Korea in the fifth round of a scheduled six-rounder.
On
February 26, 2009 at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan, Manami (114 lbs)
won a ten-round split (97-95,98-92,95-96) decision over 28-year-old
former world amateur champion Xiyan
Zhang (113¾ lbs) of Hei Long Jiang, China for the WBA Junior
bantamweight title.
According
to Joe Koizumi of FightNews.com: "Tsunami ... kept
on stalking defending champ Zhang Xi Yan, a Chinese southpaw, and
overcame her early deficit on points to earn a split decision ... It
was such a hairline verdict as either could have been the winner ... It
was the very first WBA female world title bout ever held in Japan, a
good market for smaller divisions. Regardless of the debatable
decision, it was a very good contest where the skillful footworker
(Zhang) and the non-stop puncher (Tenkai) displayed all they had. It
might become a beginning of solving our discrimination against the
women’s boxing. From the start Zhang made good use of her speed in
punching and moving side-to-side, displaying sharp combinations to the
cautious challenger. The braided-haired Chinese, 28, was in command in
the first three rounds, as the short-haired Japanese, four years her
junior, didn’t start her engine yet. The fourth saw Tenkai, ex-IFBA
bantam ruler, recklessly began boring in and connected with solid left
hooks to the lefty champ’s cheek. Making full use of her feet, Zhang
dominated the fifth with versatile combinations upstairs and
downstairs, while Tenkai missed more powerful but less accurate combos.
The cute Japanese girl accelerated her attack from the sixth onward and
kept stalking the elusive champ to occasionally score with her
trademark left hooks. Zhang rode a bicycle to avert mixing up with the
aggressive and pugnacious challenger, who attempted to work the body
and stop the champ’s still shifty footwork. Zhang kept
retreating to keep her distance, but Tenkai continually went forward to
throw solid combinations in round seven and eight. The champ, still
more technically excellent, often threw her busy punches without
hitting with her knuckle part, while the challenger showed her abundant
stamina and kept throwing solid shots to the face and belly. Aware of
the contest being very close, Tenkai desperately tried to come close to
the cagey champ who kept moving and attempted to counter the willing
mixer. The Japanese seemed to dominate the last two sessions, which
might or might not offset her early deficits on the scores. The
jubilant winner and the first WBA female champ Tenkai cried for joy,
and said, “I’m very happy to show my power. I wish to express my
whole-hearted thanks to my supporters." Zhang
fell to 7-2-1 (2 KO's) and has not fought professionally since, instead
working with the Chinese amateur team as they prepare for the
2012
Olympics.
Manami
was now acknowledged as a true world champion by the Japan Boxing
Commission, which recognizes only the WBA and WBC titles.
Manami Arima vs Shanee Martin
© Copyrighted photo by Samart
On February 7, 2010 at World
Memorial Hall in Kobe, Japan, Manami (114 lbs) defended the
WBA
Junior Bantamweight title with a ten-round unanimous
(100-90,100-90,99-91) decision over Shanee Martin (5′5½″, 114 lbs) of
Colchester, England who fell to 9-5-1 (5 KO's). WBAN correspondent Samart told us that Manami Arima said
in a post-fight interview that she would like to fight Germany's Susi Kentikian in the near
future.
On
May 17, 2010 at the Super Arena in Saitama, Japan Manami (113¾
lbs) again defended the WBA Junior bantamweight title with a ten-round
unanimous (97-92,96-93,98-92) decision over 35-year-old Kayoko Ebata
(113½ lbs) of Tokyo who fell to 3-3 (2 KO's). Joe
Koizumi
reported that "Tenkai
... took the leadoff with her trade-mark left hooks to the
elusive challenger. Ebata, a 34-year-old footworker, attempted to
counter the onrushing champ and took a point in round four. Tenkai,
however, overpowered the lanky counterpuncher all the way from the
fifth onward. Ebata was penalized a point for pushing down the champ’s
back-head repeatedly midway in the eighth."
On
December 6, 2010 at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan, Manami (114¼ lbs)
retained the WBA Junior Bantamweight title when former OPBF champion
Rie Fujimoto (5'4", 114¼ lbs)
of Kyoei Boxing Gym retired at the end
of the eighth round. Manami put on a show of her boxing skills as she
used anticipation and movement from her waist to slip
Fujimoto's
punches while taking her own pot shots almost at will. Late in the
fight, Manami often boxed with both gloves down
relying on
her quick and accurate counterpunching to dominate the durable
Fujimoto, who fell to 9-5-2 (4 KO's). On May 12, 2011 at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Manami Arima (114 lbs) TKO'd Nucharin Yoohanngoh (112¼
lbs) of Bankok, Thailand at 1:25 in the third round of a scheduled
ten-rounder for the WBA Junior Bantamweight title. The Thai
boxer, who fights under the ring name "Petchsairung Looksaikongdin",
fell to 1-11 (0 KO's) with the loss. (WBAN thinks
it is absurd that a boxer with Yoohangoh's losing record is
considered eligible for any world title fight.)
On July 9, 2012, Manami Arima (114 lbs)
returned to Korakuen Hall after almost fourteen months out of the ring
and lost a ten-round unanimous (97-93,97-93,97-94) decision to Naoko
Yamaguchi (114½ lbs) of Tokyo, Japan for the WBA Junior Bantamweight
title. Yamaguchi, who had boxed professionally since 2001,
improved her record to 19-2-3 (16 KO's) with the win.
On October 6, 2012 at El Palenque de
la Feria in Tepic, Nayarit, Mexico, undefeated Janeth Perez Vigil of
Mexico won a ten-round unanimous (100-90,99-91,99-91) decision over
Manami Arima for the WBA Bantamweight title. Perez improved to 17-0-2
(4 KO's) with the win.
On December 15, 2012 at Arena Coliseo in
Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, Mariana Juarez (115 lbs) of Mexico City
won a ten-round unanimous (100-90,100-90,99-91) decision over Manami
Arima (115 lbs) in a non-title fight. Juarez improved to 36-6-3 (KO's)
with the win.
On March 2, 2013 at Gimnasio de las Liebres in Rio Bravo, Tamaulipas, Mexico, Zulina Muñoz
(114¾ lbs) of Mexico City won a ten-round unanimous
(95-93,97-92,95-93) decision over Manami Arima (114½ lbs) of Tokyo,
Japan for the WBC Junior Bantamweight title. Arima fell to
18-7 (7 KO's) with the loss whileMuñoz improved to 37-1-2 (24 KO's).
On July 27 2013 at Palenque de la Fería in
Chihuahua, Chihuahua, Mexico, Jessica Chavez (113 kbs) of Mexico City
won a ten-round unanimous (99-91,99-91,97-93) decision over Manami
Arima (111½ lbs). Chavez improved to 19-3-2 (4 KO's).
On Novermber 28 2013 at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Manami Arima (117 lbs) TKO'd Leslie Domingo (117¾ lbs) of Iligan
City, Lanao del Norte, Philippines at 1:59 in thethird round of a
scheduled eight. Domingo fell to 4-2-1 (3 KO's) with the loss
while Arima advanced to 19-8 (8 KO's).
Manami's plan
when she stops boxing is to follow in her mother's footsteps and
work at a nursing home for the elderly. "After you have done
something for yourself, you should do something for others",
she says.
Page
last updated: Tuesday December 10, 2013
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