Nine retired female former world champions also attended the “Evening of Dinner with World Champions” event held on 2 June. Among them was Naoko Fujioka, the former five-division world champion who was recently elected as the first female Japanese boxer to be inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. Fujioka, who was presented with a bouquet by her former gym president Shinji Takehara, smiled and remarked, “I am glad my hard work has been rewarded.”
こちらは日本女子初の殿堂入りとなった藤岡元王者（左端）
Fujioka admitted that induction into the Hall of Fame was “completely unexpected,” but as time passes, she is increasingly grasping the magnitude of the honour. She also stated that as the first female champion from Japan to be selected, she would be delighted if her achievement could serve as a source of inspiration and a future goal for active female fighters.
Fujioka is scheduled to depart Japan on 9 June to attend the Induction Ceremony, which will be held mid-month at the International Boxing Hall of Fame in Canastota, New York. She is looking forward to meeting fellow boxing legends, including a reunion with former world middleweight champion Gennadiy Golovkin, who is being inducted alongside her this year.
“I want to support the active female boxers who are working hard, and I want to contribute to the sport of boxing as a whole, regardless of gender,” Fujioka said. Currently, she offers personal boxing instruction while studying sports science at the Juntendo University Graduate School. She expressed a desire to focus her future efforts on developing female coaches, who remain scarce within the sport.
