If you don't get into the ring once or twice, then you're a coward, Geoffrey Ima says as he describes people's attitudes toward boxing in his hometown in Uganda. Ima has been in the ring hundreds of times and came to love boxing so much, he wanted to earn a living from it — a career choice that led to a move to Japan and a job in Nagoya as a boxing trainer 10 years ago.

Ima, 37, was speaking from his workplace, the Chunichi Boxing Gym, which has a modest frontage among the bars and nightclubs of Sakae in Nagoya's entertainment district. In the spacious basement, the gym contains punching bags, weight-training equipment and a full-size boxing ring.

"The town where I grew up, Naguru, was like a slum," he recounted. "There were lots of people on low wages. Sports were the key to a better life, either boxing, football or rugby. It was a sports town. My two brothers and I all got into boxing.