ODDS and EVENS | Sayonara to a Memorable Sports Year

Like any other year, 2025 was filled with thrills and surprises in the wide world of sports. And week after week, Odds and Evens highlighted the sporting landscape from start to finish.

Instead of penning a chronological recap of the entire year in sports for Japan's teams, athletes and major sporting events (and Japanese success stories overseas), this piece will focus on numerous news items that left a lasting impression on me.

Let's start with two global superstars, Naoya Inoue and Shohei Ohtani.

The boxer became the first world champion since heavyweight Larry Holmes in 1983 to defend The Ring (aka "The Bible of Boxing") title four times in the same year. Yes, boxing's alphabet soup organizations (WBA, WBC, IBF and WBO) that issue the major title belts are more significant in the grand scheme of things. That said, Inoue is one of boxing's pound-for-pound dynamos ― one of the two or three best fighters in the world.

Undisputed super bantamweight champion Inoue closed out 2025 with a unanimous decision over Mexico's Alan Picasso on December 27 in Riyadh, raising his record to 32-0 with 27 knockouts.

Inoue has now won 27 consecutive world title fights. In other words, nearly every one of his career bouts has been with a world title on the line. Remarkable.

Helping Lead the Dodgers to Another Title

Ohtani, the most electrifying baseball player on the planet, was an integral part of the Los Angeles Dodgers' second straight World Series-winning season.

Game 3 of the 2025 Fall Classic provided one snapshot of his amazing skills. In the epic 18-inning game against the Toronto Blue Jays, Ohtani smacked two homers and two doubles and walked five times (four intentionally). No player had ever reached base nine times in one game in MLB postseason history.

A few weeks earlier, Ohtani had another historic playoff performance. On October 17, he slugged three homers and pitched six-plus scoreless innings of two-hit ball with 10 strikeouts as the Dodgers completed their sweep of the Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Championship Series.

You also can't fill 2025 in your sports memory bank without remembering pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto's gusty and clutch performances in the World Series. Ohtani's Dodgers teammate gave his team a big lift in Game 6, collecting his second win of the series. That set the stage for Yamamoto to be a potential hero in Game 7 (with no days' rest). And he rose to the occasion, pitching in relief in a winner-take-all game. JAPAN Forward's recap of the series finale on November 1 noted that Yamamoto "pitched 2⅔ scoreless innings, enhancing his reputation as a big-game pitcher."

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of the World Series MVP, "We needed a next-level performance from Yamamoto and we got it."

By the way, let's not forget that Ohtani became the first MLB player to win three consecutive regular-season MVP Awards as a unanimous selection.

In Remembrance of Shigeo Nagashima

2025 also marked the passing of Shigeo Nagashima, an exceptional third baseman and tremendous clutch hitter for the Yomiuri Giants. Nagashima was so respected within Nippon Professional Baseball and the Yomiuri organization that he was the team's lifetime honorary manager for the last few decades of his life.

Nagashima died on June 3 at age 89.

During his playing days, the Giants won 11 Japan Series titles, including nine straight from 1965-73. He retired in 1974, and later won two titles as a Yomiuri manager during a pair of stints at the helm.

Nagashima was "the most beloved sports figure in the land," best-selling author Robert Whiting once observed. 

He was known as "Mr Pro Baseball" and "Mr Giants," two monikers that will forever underscore his special place in Japanese culture.

Sadaharu Oh, who holds the global career record for home runs in professional baseball (868), insisted his former teammate was the most feared player in NPB.

"I couldn't match him at all in terms of presence, so I had to show it with my bat," Oh told Kyodo News. "I could only compete with him with my numbers. Shigeo Nagashima was the man inside the head of every pro baseball player."

All-Time Soccer Great Kamamoto Dies

Two months after Nagashima's passing, Kunishige Kamamoto, a superstar in the Japan Soccer League in the 1960s-1980s, died at age 81 on August 10.

Kamamoto was a prolific scorer for the Japan national team, scoring 75 goals in 76 matches. He had seven goals in the 1968 Mexico City Olympics.

In his club career, Kamamoto proved again and again that he was a brilliant offensive player. He finished with 202 goals for Yanmar Diesel in 251 matches. 

The late Pele summed it up best, calling Kamamoto "a great striker."

Some of the Great Sports Performances in 2025

In March, Mao Shimada, collected her third consecutive title at the World Junior Figure Skating Championships in Hungary. Not only did she remind the world of her great talent, Shimada, then 16, also showed that she's head and shoulders above the competition. She won the title by more than 40 points.

In September, Tokito Oda cemented his place in the annals of tennis as a superstar. At age 19, he captured his third Grand Slam title of 2025, winning the US Open men's wheelchair singles final in New York. In doing so, the world No 1 completed the career Grand Slam before his 20th birthday. Incredible.

In November, Ukrainian sumo wrestler Aonishiki, a symbol of courage for his war-ravaged homeland, showed his toughness and all-around skills en route to his first Emperor's Cup. He conquered Hoshoryu in a playoff at the Kyushu Basho.

2025 also marked the promotion of Mongolian Hoshoryu and Onosato to yokozuna, sumo's highest rank, filling the void after the retirement of Terunofuji. Onosato, an Ishikawa Prefecture native, was the best grappler this year, collecting three Emperor's Cups as the champion of the March, May and September tournaments.

In the penultimate month of the year, Forever Young and jockey Ryusei Sakai teamed up to win the Breeders' Cup Classic in Del Mar, California. "None of his rivals could match Forever Young's finishing kick," Sky Sports reported. Their achievement on November 1 ended decades of frustration for Japanese horse racing. (Taiki Blizzard, guided by Yukio Okabe, was the nation's first runner in the famous race in 1996.)

Hard Work and a Dream

Throughout the 2025 college football season in the United States, University of Hawaii kicker Kansei Matsuzawa demonstrated the power of a dream. Fueled by a desire to become an NFL player in the future, the Tokyo native taught himself how to be a placekicker by watching YouTube videos.

Matsuzawa took a circuitous route to stardom. He left Japan and enrolled at a small American school (Hocking College in Nelsonville, Ohio), proving himself there and then earning a shot to play at the University of Hawaii.

On Christmas Eve, Matsuzawa played his final college game, helping the Rainbow Warriors defeat the University of California 35-31 in the Hawaii Bowl. 

There has never been a Japanese player in the NFL, but Matsuzawa's senior season raised his profile exponentially. He was 27-for-29 on field-goal attempts, and had 100% success on extra-point attempts (40-for-40).

Here's hoping the Lou Groza Award finalist is competing for an NFL team in 2026. Matsuzawa's career is a source of inspiration for many people.

A Message to Odds and Evens Readers

A big thank you to everyone who read this column and JAPAN Forward's sports coverage in 2025. 

Story ideas and feedback are always appreciated.

Reach me via email: e.odeven@japan-forward.com.  

Author: Ed Odeven

Follow Ed's [Japan Sports Notebook] on Sundays, [Odds and Evens] during the week, and he can be found on X (formerly Twitter) ＠ed_odeven.