Akeomi Nitta is a Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

ese kickboxer. He is one of Japan's kickboxers in the welterweight division.

Karate to kickboxing

In elementary school Akeomi Nitta loved baseball

Baseball

Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...

; during junior high he chose not pursue sports, instead concetrating on other activities. Daido-juku karate

Karate

is a martial art developed in the Ryukyu Islands in what is now Okinawa, Japan. It was developed from indigenous fighting methods called and Chinese kenpō. Karate is a striking art using punching, kicking, knee and elbow strikes, and open-handed techniques such as knife-hands. Grappling, locks,...

 rekindled his interest, and he won the first tournament he participated in, even though he was only a white belt (beginner) at the time. Soon after he met his teacher, Mr.Katsuyama, and became a pupil of S.V.G., a kickboxing gym. He won the championship of Shin-karate absolute class by knocking out all his opponents.

As a kickboxer

He knocked out his opponent again in his first professional match, and the future welterweight champion of the New Japan Kickboxing Federation, Hiroshi Suzuki, in his second. He knocked out another future welterweight champion, of the All Japan Kickboxing Federation, Tatsuya Suzuki, and won 12 straight matches from April 1994 to September 1998. In October 1996, he won the New Japan Kickboxing Federation Middleweight championship title. In March 2000, he defeated Mohammed Owali, the WPKL World Super welterweight champion who no other Japanese kickboxer had been able to defeat. Two months later, he beat an Italian kickboxer and won the title of WKA World Thai Boxing Super Welterweight champion in Milan, Italy.
Later, he won the All Japan Kickboxing Federation Middleweight Championship.

Challenge to K-1

He had several K-1

K-1

K-1 is a defunct world-wide kickboxing promotion based in Tokyo, Japan founded by Kazuyoshi Ishii, a formerKyokushin karate practitioner. K-1 combines stand up techniques from Muay Thai, Karate, Taekwondo, Savate, San Shou, kickboxing, western-style boxing, and other martial arts...

 matches, notably against Ramon Dekkers

Ramon Dekkers

Ramon "The Diamond" Dekker is a retired Dutch kickboxer and an eight time Muay Thai world champion.-Early years:Dekker was born in Breda, North Brabant . He began learning martial arts at age 12, studying Judo for a few months. He then started boxing for a year. After that, Dekker started...

 of the Netherlands

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 -- called "the strongest kickboxer of 20th century" -- which ended in a draw. Dekker later said that Nitta was the strongest Japanese kickboxer. Nitta also KO'd American Kit Cope

Kit Cope

Kristopher Lee Cope is an American Muay Thai kickboxer, mixed martial artist and television personality. He is the former IPMTO Light Heavyweight Muay Thai World Champion and in mixed martial arts he has an unimpressive record of 4-7...

 in K-1

K-1

K-1 is a defunct world-wide kickboxing promotion based in Tokyo, Japan founded by Kazuyoshi Ishii, a formerKyokushin karate practitioner. K-1 combines stand up techniques from Muay Thai, Karate, Taekwondo, Savate, San Shou, kickboxing, western-style boxing, and other martial arts...

.
In 2002 he participated in the K-1 WORLD MAX Japan Tournament, but was knocked out by Takashi Ohno, ISKA World Oriental Super Middleweight champion. In 2005 he defeated Ash-Ra, Takehiro Murahama and Koutetsu Boku while losing to Takayuki Kohiruimaki

Takayuki Kohiruimaki

is a Japanese welterweight kickboxer and karateka competing in K-1 MAX. His real name is Takayuki Kohiruimaki. He started calling himself Taishin Kohiruimaki in 2008.-Young age:...

 and Ian James Schaffa

Ian James Schaffa

Ian "The Goshu Hurricane" Schaffa is an Australian mixed martial artist, kickboxer and boxer. He has fought for K-1, World Victory Road, and Shooto promotions. Austral-Asian vale tudo champion. Bronze medalist in 1999 at the Australian National Greco roman championships. New South Wales kickboxing...

. In 2006 he lost to Yoshihiro Sato

Yoshihiro Sato

is a Japanese kickboxer competing in K-1 at middleweight . He is the former world champion of Muay Thai in WKA and WPKC, and he won the Japanese national tournament of K-1 twice in 2006 and 2007. His official nickname is "Mugen Sniper" which means Infinite Sniper.- Amateur era :He was born in...

.

As a coach

He founded his own kickboxing gym named "BUNGELING BAY", and served as its president.

Record

• Amateur
  • Karate
    Karate
    is a martial art developed in the Ryukyu Islands in what is now Okinawa, Japan. It was developed from indigenous fighting methods called and Chinese kenpō. Karate is a striking art using punching, kicking, knee and elbow strikes, and open-handed techniques such as knife-hands. Grappling, locks,...
    
    :unknown
• Professional
  • Kickboxing
    Kickboxing
    Kickboxing refers to a group of martial arts and stand-up combat sports based on kicking and punching, historically developed from karate, Muay Thai and western boxing....
    
    :43 fights 30 wins, 16 KOs, 10 losses, 3 draws

Career

• Amateur
  • unknown
• Professional
  • New Japan Kickboxing Federation the first Middleweight Champion
  • All Japan Kickboxing Federation Middleweight champion
  • W.K.A. World Thai boxing Super welterweight champion
  • K1 WORLD MAX 2005 Japan tournament 2nd Place

See also

• List of K-1 events
• List of male kickboxers
• List of kickboxing organizations

External links

• Official website of Akeomi Nitta(Japanese)