| Yutaka Niida | |
| Realname: | 新井田豊 |
| Weight: | Minimumweight |
| Height: | 5 ft 1+1/2 in |
| Nationality: | Japanese |
| Birth Date: | October 2, 1978 |
| Birth Place: | Yokohama, Kanagawa, |
| Style: | Orthodox |
| Total: | 28 |
| Wins: | 23 |
| Ko: | 9 |
| Losses: | 2 |
| Draws: | 3 |
| Reach: | 62+1/2 in |
is a retired professional boxer in the minimumweight (105 lb) division and former WBA world minimumweight champion.
Niida belonged to the Yokohama Hikari Boxing Gym, his trainer was Mitsunori Seki and Hidefumi Oikawa.[1] He first won the WBA minimumweight title at the Pacifico Yokohama on August 25, 2001, when he defeated Chana Porpaoin by unanimous decision.[2] On October 22 only two months later, Niida vacated the title, with the intention of retiring due to back problems and lost interest in boxing.[3]
Niida returned two years later and challenged Noel Arambulet for the title at the same venue, but Niida suffered his first loss, by split decision.[2] Niida fought against Arambulet again at the Korakuen Hall on July 3, 2004; this time Niida won the title by unanimous decision in addition to Arambulet not making the weight.[2] Niida has successfully defended the title seven times since he regained it, winning his last defense occurring against Jose Luis Varela at the Korakuen Hall on March 1, 2008 by knockout in the 6th round.[4] However Mitsunori Seki died from a subarachnoid hemorrhage on June 6, 2008,[5] his death gave Niida an intense shock.
Yutaka Niida lost his title via a fourth-round TKO at the Pacifico Yokohama on September 15, 2008 to Nicaragua's Román González. Presumably, he hung his gloves after the fight. Niida won the achievement award for the 41st Japan Professional Sports Grand Prize that year.[6]
In 2010, Niida founded a public company "World Famous" named after the entrance song of his champion days created by the Japanese rapper BiARD for him, and established a sports gym "Body Design 新井田式 (which means Niida method)" in Yokohama on November 20. Hidefumi Oikawa also works as one of ten or so trainers in this gym.[7]
| Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round, time | Date | Location | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 28 | Loss | Román González | TKO | 4 (12), | 15 Sep 2008 | ||||
| 27 | Win | 23–1–3 | José Luis Varela | KO | 6 (12), | 3 Mar 2008 | |||
| 26 | Win | 22–1–3 | Eriberto Gejon | UD | 12 | 1 Sep 2007 | |||
| 25 | Win | 21–1–3 | Katsunari Takayama | SD | 12 | 7 Apr 2007 | |||
| 24 | Win | 20–1–3 | Ronald Barrera | UD | 12 | 4 Mar 2006 | |||
| 23 | Win | 19–1–3 | Eriberto Gejon | 10 (12), | 25 Sep 2005 | ||||
| 22 | Win | 18–1–3 | Jae Won Kim | UD | 12 | 16 Apr 2005 | |||
| 21 | Win | 17–1–3 | Juan Jose Landaeta | SD | 12 | 30 Oct 2004 | |||
| 20 | Win | 16–1–3 | Noel Arambulet | UD | 12 | 3 Jul 2004 | |||
| 19 | Win | 15–1–3 | Ut Taprakhon | TKO | 5 (10), | 8 Dec 2003 | |||
| 18 | Loss | 14–1–3 | Noel Arambulet | 12 | 12 Jul 2003 | ||||
| 17 | Win | 14–0–3 | Chana Porpaoin | UD | 12 | 25 Aug 2001 | |||
| 16 | Draw | 13–0–3 | Daisuke Iida | 10 | 14 May 2001 | ||||
| 15 | Win | 13–0–2 | Makoto Suzuki | TKO | 9 (10), | 8 Jan 2001 | |||
| 14 | Win | 12–0–2 | Sonny Boy Panding | KO | 1 (8), | 11 Oct 2000 | |||
| 13 | Win | 11–0–2 | Itsuo Oka | 8 (10), | 30 May 2000 | ||||
| 12 | Win | 10–0–2 | Atsuomi Maeda | UD | 8 | 23 Mar 2000 | |||
| 11 | Win | 9–0–2 | Rudolfo Fernandez | KO | 2 (10), | 18 Oct 1999 | |||
| 10 | Win | 8–0–2 | Masanori Suga | 6 | 27 Jun 1999 | ||||
| 9 | Win | 7–0–2 | Rogelio Lapian | UD | 8 | 15 Feb 1999 | |||
| 8 | Win | 6–0–2 | Hidetaka Kitano | KO | 1 (6), | 3 Dec 1998 | |||
| 7 | Draw | 5–0–2 | Kenichiro Hamaguchi | 6 | 18 Sep 1998 | ||||
| 6 | Draw | 5–0–1 | Tsutomu Oshigane | 6 | 29 Mar 1998 | ||||
| 5 | Win | 5–0 | Yuki Hashiguchi | UD | 6 | 3 Oct 1997 | |||
| 4 | Win | 4–0 | Kazuhisa Takahashi | UD | 4 | 26 Jul 1997 | |||
| 3 | Win | 3–0 | Tatsuro Oya | KO | 1 (4), | 17 Sep 1997 | |||
| 2 | Win | 2–0 | Akio Yamamoto | 4 | 20 Dec 1996 | ||||
| 1 | Win | 1–0 | Satoshi Shinkai | 1 (4), | 15 Nov 1996 |