Kyotaro Fujimoto

At the K-1 Final 16 Kyotaro defeated another legend in Jerome Le Banner. Kyotaro withstood the Frenchman's early power to give him a severe beating in the 3rd round to earn a draw. Le Banner was angry at the decision and walked out of the ring, giving Kyotaro the win by DQ.

Kyotaro took Welliver's place in the WBC top 15 as a result of this win. Kyotaro lost his next fight against Solomon Haumono via TKO in the 5th round. The fight was held at Bodymaker Colosseum in Osaka on December 31, 2012. Kyotaro won his first major regional title against Willie Nasio for the vacant WBC - OPBF heavyweight title in 2017.

In October 2011, Kyotaro relinquished the K-1 Heavyweight title in order to pursue a career in professional boxing.

Kyotaro debuted as a pro boxer on December 31, 2011 when he took a unanimous decision win over Michael O'Donnell in Osaka, Japan. In September 2012, he defeated Chauncy Welliver by unanimous decision, who at the time was ranked #15 in the world by the WBC.

He is the former K-1 Heavyweight Champion and successfully defended the title against kickboxing legend Peter Aerts at K-1 World Grand Prix 2010 in Yokohama. He was also the K-1 World Grand Prix 2008 in Fukuoka tournament finalist and K-1 Young Japan GP 2007 champion.

Kyotaro defended his title against 3 time K-1 Grand Prix Champion Peter Aerts at K-1 World Grand Prix 2010 in Yokohama. Kyotaro knocked Aerts down twice at the end of the 1st Round and then knocked him out with his right hook in the 2nd Round.

His next fight was at the K-1 World Grand Prix 2010 Final against 4-time defending champion Semmy Schilt. He was unable to faze his taller opponent, losing by unanimous decision.

On March 28, 2009, Kyotaro won the K-1 Heavyweight (-100 kg) Title tournament by knocking out Melvin Manhoef in semifinals and beating Gokhan Saki in finals by extra round majority decision. Kyotaro became the second fighter after Badr Hari to win the title in K-1 Light Heavyweight division.

On December 5, 2009, he faced Tyrone Spong at the K-1 World Grand Prix 2009 Final and lost by unanimous decision.

Kyotaro entered the world of K-1 when he fought and won the K-1 Tryout 2007 Survival tournament in Tokyo by defeating Tatsunori Momose in the semi-final and Takumi Sato in the final, all by decision. This tournament was designed to showcase new talent. He then fought Kyoung Suk Kim during the opening fights at K-1 World Grand Prix 2007 in Seoul Final 16 defeating Kim by 2nd Round Knockout.

Kyotaro moved to Tokyo and joined Dragon Dojo established by Kensaku Maeda. He debuted on May 17, 2006 against Junichi Hanada.

He further proved himself as a top K-1 contender by defeating the K-1 World Grand Prix 2004 in Las Vegas II and the K-1 World Grand Prix 2007 in Hawaii tournament champion Mighty Mo at K-1 World Grand Prix 2008 in Yokohama. Kyotaro was then invited to fight in the K-1 World GP 2008 in Fukuoka in which he became the runner up losing to Brazilian Karateka Ewerton Teixeira.

Kyotaro Fujimoto (藤本 京太郎 [ɸɯdʑimoto kʲoːtaɾoː] , Fujimoto Kyōtarō, born June 23, 1986) is a Japanese professional boxer and former kickboxer.

Fujimoto was born in Osaka, Japan on June 23, 1986. He started learning karate of Uomoto-ryū (魚本流) as a child. His parents divorced in 1997 and he lived with his mother, sisters and grandmother.