Global sports media giant ESPN published an ambitious article "Ranking the top 100 professional athletes since 2000" on its flagship website on Thursday, July 18.
The list was not limited to North America, but rather was a compilation of sporting greats spanning the globe.
It was a fascinating read, reminding one of dozens and dozens of great achievements and the rich history of sports in the 21st century over the past two-plus decades.
A few key guidelines were used in producing the list.
"ESPN editions from around the globe contributed to the nominations and voting process, as well as the individual sport list rankings that will follow," reads a brief passage from the article. "Voters were instructed to consider only an athlete's performance since 2000."
More than 70,000 votes from ESPN contributors were tallied to come up with the top 100.
A Few Notes on the List of Top 100 Athletes
All-time swimming great Michael Phelps, winner of an Olympic record 23 gold medals, is No 1 on the list of sports standouts.
Retired tennis legend Serena Williams, who captured 23 Grand Slam singles titles, follows at No 2.
Soccer superstar Lionel Messi, winner of 10 La Liga titles with Barcelona, is third.
LeBron James, the NBA's all-time scoring leader and a player who led three franchises to championships (Miami Heat, Cleveland Cavaliers, Los Angeles Lakers), is No 4.
Seven-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback Tom Brady is fifth.
The rest of the top 10 in order: Roger Federer (tennis), Simone Biles (gymnastics), Tiger Woods (golf), Usain Bolt (track and field) and Kobe Bryant (basketball).
Japan's Representatives on the Top 100 Sports List
Of the 100 selected athletes, three are Japanese: retired baseball superstar Ichiro Suzuki at 37th, current MLB fan favorite Shohei Ohtani at No 62, and retired gymnast Kohei Uchimura at 82.
Ichiro was a 10-time MLB All-Star and 10-time Gold Glove winner. He also set the MLB single-season record with 262 hits.
Ohtani's growing list of achievements are regularly chronicled on this website.
Uchimura's nickname, "King Kohei," was an apt description of what he accomplished over the years. Most notably, he won back-to-back Olympic all-around gold medals in 2012 and 2016 and six consecutive world titles in the same event between 2009-16.
Also, among the top 100 athletes who played in team sports one had a long tenure in Japan: former Vissel Kobe midfielder Andres Iniesta (2018-23 with the J.League squad), who now plies his craft in the United Arab Emirates. Iniesta is ranked 70th.
Amateur Athletes Excluded From the Top 100 Sports List
Some of Japan's greatest athletes of the 21st century play amateur sports. Thus, they weren't among those under consideration for this list.
For example, women's freestyle wrestler Kaori Icho is without a doubt one of the premier athletes who was born in Asia. Icho became the first female athlete to win four consecutive Olympic gold medals in a single sport, doing so from 2004-16.
She did not, however, compete as a pro wrestler. Neither did compatriot Saori Yoshida, another amazingly successful female wrestler, including three Olympic titles and 13 consecutive world titles.
Oddly enough, one might argue, elite-level figure skating is also considered an amateur sport, though top skaters have sponsorships and make money from endorsement deals.
Therefore, Japan's best figure skaters of the 21st century, including three-time world champions Mao Asada and Kaori Sakamoto, two-time Olympic gold medalist and two-time world titlist Yuzuru Hanyu and two-time world champs Miki Ando and Shoma Uno, among others, were not eligible for this list.
A Glaring Omission from the Top 100 List
With a perfect 27-0 record and 24 knockouts in his illustrious boxing career, Naoya "Monster" Inoue should have been included on the list.
At 31 years old, Inoue isn't a newcomer as a professional puncher. He fought his first pro bout in October 2012.
Inoue became an undisputed world champion in the bantamweight and super bantamweight divisions. You could make a compelling argument that this alone should've been a feat worthy of landing on ESPN's top 100 list. (The methodology used for compiling the list is explained at the bottom of ESPN's article.)
Looking ahead, ESPN did include Inoue's name in a related article, "Who'll make the 2050 top athletes list? These 25 stars are on their way."
A Note About the Next Edition of the Top 100 List in 2050
Don't expect Ohtani to remain at No 62 in the next version of this list in 2050.
ESPN's Jeff Passan explained why in his short profile of the baseball star that appears in the compilation of athletes.
Wrote Passan, "When ESPN runs the sequel to this exercise in 2050, Ohtani is the likeliest candidate from baseball to rate worthy of the top 10. His first seven years in MLB have been transcendent. What before him was taken as fact ― that nobody can hit and pitch at a high enough level to warrant doing both ― is now null."
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Boxing
Inoue to Face Super Bantamweight Challenger Doheny on September 3
"Monster" Inoue is gearing up for his next title fight. The unbeaten Japanese boxer announced on Tuesday, July 16 that he'll return to the ring on September 3 in a title bout against Irishman TJ Doheny at Tokyo's Ariake Arena.
In Inoue's last fight on May 6, he retained his four title belts with a sixth-round technical knockout of Mexican opponent Luis Nery at Tokyo Dome.
Doheny (26-4, 20 KOs) is coming off a fourth-round TKO of Bryl Bayogos on the undercard of Inoue's marquee event, boxing's first pro fight spectacle at Tokyo Dome since February 1990.
What's Inoue's outlook for his next title fight?
"My opponent has knockout power, and he's physically larger than I am," Inoue said, according to Kyodo News. "So I think the first half of the fight, in particular, is going to be tense.
"I think there will be tests of strength, but I want to keep him at bay with a display of technique that won't require that. My theme is to not let him lay a glove on me."
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Gymnastics
Japan Captain Miyata Kicked Off Olympic Team for Smoking, Drinking Violations
Shoko Miyata, captain of the Japan women's gymnastics team, was forced to vacate her spot on the team for the upcoming Paris Olympics due to rules violations, the Japan Gymnastics Association announced on Friday, July 19.
Miyata, 19, broke team rules, smoking cigarettes and drinking alcohol in June, it was widely reported. Consuming tobacco and alcohol products is against the law for individuals under 20 in Japan.
The 2022 world championships bronze medalist in the balance beam left the training camp in Monaco on Thursday to return to Tokyo.
Miyata, winner of the women's all-around and vault tiles at the 2024 All-Japan Championships in April, cited stressful preparation for the Olympics as the reason she broke team rules.
"There was a lot of pressure to achieve my competitive goals, so I ended up committing these acts," Miyata was quoted as saying by The Sankei Shimbun during a news conference on Friday.
At the press gathering, Miyata, a Juntendo University second-year student, said that she told Japan Gymnastics Associations officials that she "smoked and drank" only once.
Soccer
Veteran Defender Ito Joins Bayern Munich
Defender Hiroki Ito switched teams in recent days, leaving the German Bundesliga's VfB Stuttgart to play for Bayern Munich. A $32 million USD (¥5 billion JPY) release clause (transfer fee) was required to complete the move, according to published reports.
Ito, 25, received a four-year contract until 2028.
Bayern Munich held an introductory news conference on Tuesday, July 16, at which Ito outlined his goals in playing for his new team.
“I will try to make my contribution to success with a lot of hard work," Ito told reporters.
Christoph Freund, Bayern's sporting director, believes Ito will be an impactful addition to the team.
"We have signed a very strong and versatile defender in Hiroki Ito," Freund said, according to a news report on the team's official website. "He has a strong left foot and can play both center back and fullback. Hiroki is a great, very open guy. He has made excellent progress in recent years. And I'm convinced that he has not yet reached his limit. We're very happy that he's with us."
Ito made his FIFA World Cup debut in 2022.
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Struggling J.League Club Yokohama F Marinos, Manager Kewell Part Ways
Yokohama F Marinos fired manager Harry Kewell, who's in his first season at the helm, on Tuesday, July 16.
After finishing second in the J.League in 2023, Marinos sat in 12th place out of 20 teams in the current campaign.
Aussie mentor Kewell led Marinos to eight wins, five draws and 10 defeats during his short stint in charge.
Marinos assistant John Hutchison, also an Australian, was named the team's interim manager.
In Hutchison's managerial debut with Yokohama, the club defeated league-leading FC Machida Zelvia 2-1 on Saturday at Tokyo's National Stadium. Anderson Lopes and Jun Amano scored goals in the 33rd and 45th minutes, respectively, to lead Marinos to victory.
Briefly…
In a warm-up match for the Paris Olympics, the Japan men's national basketball team lost 104–83 to Germany on Friday, July 19 in Berlin. On the same day, the France women's team topped Japan 75-62.
For the Japan men, NBA player Rui Hachimura was the top scorer with 19 points. Yuki Togashi scored 13 points and Makoto Hiejima finished with 11. Japan coach Tom Hovasse's team, which is ranked 26th in the world, opens its Olympic campaign against world No 3 Germany on July 27 in a Group B preliminary round match.
In the women's match, Japan, the silver medalist at the 2020 Tokyo Games, shot 27% from 3–point range.
Author: Ed Odeven
Find Ed on JAPAN Forward's dedicated website, SportsLook. Follow his [Japan Sports Notebook] on Sundays, [Odds and Evens] during the week, and X (formerly Twitter) ＠ed_odeven.
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