I will be communicating with Fighting Harada as part of my research for my Eder Jofre book. Are there any questions that you guys would like to ask? I will be sending my questions next week.
Pretty much all of his title fights were seperated by one or two non-title bouts. I'd like to know his opinion on the value of a champion using non-title bout to stay sharp, to earn extra money, etc. In his era it was decently common to do, with the title being on the line for only the true contenders, but it has practically disapeared during the last several generations. Does he view this as a bad thing or a good thing? I'd also like to know how he was persuaded to travel to Kingpetch's home territory of Thailand for their rematch? He had finished Kingpetch and he was the champ, so why risk his championship while taking an 'away game'?
Glad you’re actually writing the book Chris For Harada I think you need to ask him if he really felt the rematch with Jofre was easier than the first one.
I'd be interested if he's bitter at all over the result of the first Famechon fight (arguably robbed of becoming a three division undisputed champion) and Willie Pep's refereeing and interesting scoring. Also who he thought was the superior fighter of Rose and Fammo would be worthwhile knowing.
I noticed he was at the Inoue v Donaire fight and looking well. Good luck with the book Jofre was great,and my number 1 bantam.
Thanks and yeah he seems to be doing well. He retired young and didn’t come back. I think he kept himself active and healthy.
Maybe just for me Chris, if I'm not late, but could you PLEASE ask him about his trainer and his training in general? There's no info I can find at all. I can't even find his trainers name? I'd be very interested to know how he developed such elite skills on his feet, with his jab etc. Would be great to know. Thanks. I know it's probably not useful for a Jofre book, but I can hope...
Ok guys, I’m sending over my questions tomorrow. Any other questions that may be of interest? It doesn’t have to be about Jofre. I have my own questions on those bouts for my book. I’ve taken a few of these questions already and have them on my list. Will probably be submitting them by 9-10am Pacific Time.
Bump. I guess you could ask him what he thinks of Japanese boxing after him, especially now, and modern boxing in general?
Some of his shows were watched by 45 million viewers a piece. How was he compensated for that? Also, how many of his fights were filmed and are there any lost or locked away in a tv studio vault somewhere? I've heard stories about Jofre flying around the globe for two grand plus travel expenses. Did Harada get underpaid like that too because of his size? And why did he fight so many people with losing records or debuting fighters?
There is quite a bit of film on Harada actually. All the fights that matter are filmed, including title defenses. I have found Japanese uploads in tremendous quality (he's one of my favourites ever so it took a while on YouTube lol). Thing is, you can't count on them being there after a few months.
Not sure where you heard that about Jofre’s pay. I’d have to double check my notes but I believe he got over $40k defending his belt there and around $25k for the re-match. Japanese TV money was good. The TV viewers you’ve got are right. Harada was watched by many. Even Jofre got a heroes reception and send off when he fought Aoki. Jose Medel was far more popular in Japan than he ever was elsewhere.
There’s a few of his non-title fights I’d be curious to try and find. Did you find anything like the Esparza, Colter, Hawkins, Asis fights?
I don't think so, but I wouldn't be surprised if they exist. Recently footage has been shown of Pone, Caraballo, Aoki etc in stunning quality (basically HD) in japanese youtube videos, though some of it (pone) is only in highlights. The thing is, videos are removed all the time. There are also lots of other rarer videos around, like Joe Tatsuyoshi sparring with Jiro Watanabe for example, alongside his pro test, first bout etc. This content is protected This content is protected This content is protected This content is protected
