In June 1976, professional wrestler Kanji "Antonio" Inoki took on iconic American boxer Muhammad Ali at the Nippon Budokan arena in Tokyo in a fight that would be broadcast to an estimated global audience of 1.4 billion. The vaguely comical bout, which ended in a ...

Martial arts promotion One Championship is perhaps one of the most rapidly-growing sports properties in the world and hopes one day to become the biggest sports property on the planet past the NFL. In order to achieve the lofty goal, the Singapore-based promotion has its ...

Nick Fazekas has said he would welcome one of his Japan teammates stepping into the limelight. But as usual, it was he who came through, becoming the biggest factor in the Akatsuki Five's latest victory. The naturalized Japanese center racked up 41 points and 15 rebounds ...

The Akatsuki Five were once in a miserable situation, with their chances of earning a spot at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics seemingly fading away. Nine months later, Japan's men's team has put itself in a position to legitimately reach the FIBA World Cup finals, making ...

Toyama City Gymnasium belonged to local star Yudai Baba on Friday night. But there was no bragging from either himself or his father, Toshiharu. Baba was one of the difference-makers on the floor in a jubilant 85-47 victory for Japan against Qatar in FIBA World Cup ...

One night after its crushing victory over Qatar in the second round of the FIBA World Cup Asian qualifiers, the Akatsuki Five have no intention of lowering their guard even for a bit. The Japan men's national team, which cruised past the Middle Eastern nation ...

The Akatsuki Five received a tough challenge from Qatar early but wound up posting a 85-47 victory in a FIBA World Cup Asian qualifier at Toyama City Gymnasium on Friday night. The Japan men's national team (5-4) extended its winning streak in the preliminaries to ...

Looking for a fifth straight victory in its upcoming match against Qatar in the second round of the 2019 FIBA World Cup Asian qualifiers, the Akatsuki Five will take the court with high morale. “I think that we are ready and feel like we want ...

With the Rugby World Cup set for next year, head coach Jamie Joseph believes there is still a lot of room for the Japan national team to improve. To reach that target, he insisted that the Brave Blossoms need to keep playing Tier 1 ...

Although it is too hard to predict the future, the Japan men's professional hoop circuit has made steady growth since its inception in September 2016. The B. League revealed its latest financial results in a news conference at its office on Thursday, saying that the ...