Rukiya Anpo

Anpo Rukiya (安保瑠輝也, born 29 October 1995) is a Japanese kickboxer, who commpeted in the super lightweight and welterweight divisions of K-1.

A professional competitor since 2011, he is the former K-1 Super Lightweight champion and the 2021 K-1 welterweight Grand Prix runner-up.

As of December 2021, Combat Press ranks him as the eight best super featherweight in the world.

From June 2021 to February 2021 Combat Press ranked him as the #4 featherweight in the world.

Anpo made his professional debut against Taiju Shiratori at Muay Lok 2011 -3rd- on August 7, 2011.

He lost the fight by decision.

He would amass a 10-5 record over the course of the next five years, most notably reaching the final of the Emei Legend 65 kg Tournament, held at EM Legend 15.

He lost the final bout against Singmanee Kaewsamrit by decision.

Anpo was scheduled to fight against Hiroshi Mizumachi at K-1 World GP 2017 Lightweight Championship Tournament on February 25, 2017.

He won the fight by a jumping switch kick knockout, landing it six seconds into the second round.

Anpo was scheduled to fight Wang Zhiwei the Wu Lin Feng 2017: China VS Europe event on April 1, 2017.

He won the fight by decision.

Anpo was scheduled to face Deng Zeqi at Krush 77 on July 16, 2017.

He won the fight by a first-round knockout, landing a flying knee with just seven seconds left in the round.

Anpo was scheduled to face Kyoshiro at Krush 82 on November 5, 2017.

He won the fight by unanimous decision.

In 2018 he and his brother left the TRY HARD gym from Tokyo to open their own gym called ALL WIN in Osaka which they established with the help of crowdfunding.

His four-fight winning streak was snapped by Gonnapar Weerasakreck at K-1 World GP 2018: 2nd Featherweight Championship Tournament on June 17, 2018.

Gonnapar won the fight by a second-round knockout, landing a left cross mid-way through the round.

Anpo was scheduled to face Kenta Hayashi at K-1 World GP 2018: inaugural Cruiserweight Championship Tournament on September 24, 2018.

Anpo won the bout by a third-round knockout.

Although Hayashi spent the majority of the fight advancing on Anpo and backing him into the ring corners, Anpo was able to land a left straight from the southpaw stance which knocked Hayashi out.

Anpo was scheduled to face Hideaki Yamazaki at K-1 World GP 2018: K-1 Lightweight World's Strongest Tournament on December 8, 2018.

The fight was ruled a draw after the first three rounds were fought, with all three judges scoring the fight as 28-28.

Anpo won the fight by an extension-round knockout, landing a head kick just 14 seconds into the round.

Their fight was later awarded "Fight of the Year" honors at the 2018 "K-1 Awards".

He's been ranked in the featherweight top ten since March 2019.

Rukiya started training in Kyokushin Karate at a young age along his brother, they both left the world of Karate competitions with high accolades.

Japanese television did a short documentary when they were children depicting them as Karate prodigies.

Anpo was scheduled to fight the former Krush Lightweight champion Daizo Sasaki at K-1 World GP 2019: K'FESTA 2 on March 10, 2019.

Anpo won the fight by unanimous decision, with scores of 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28.

His three-fight winning streak with the promotion earned Anpo the chance to challenge the reigning K-1 Super Lightweight champion Kaew Fairtex at K-1 World GP 2019: Super Bantamweight World Tournament on June 30, 2019.

In preparation for the title fight, Anpo added former boxing world titlists Hozumi Hasegawa and Tomoki Kameda to his fight camp, as well as conditioning coach Masayoshi Hideshima.

Anpo had trouble making weight for the bout, missing by 150 g on his first weigh-in, but making weight after removing his shorts.

The fight was ruled a majority draw after the first three rounds were fought, with one judge scoring the bout 30-29 for Kaew, while the remaining two judges scored the fight as a draw.

Accordingly, an extra round was fought, during which Kaew was deducted a point for pulling down Anpo's head.

Anpo won the fight by unanimous decision, with all three judges scoring the last round 10-8 in his favor.

The decision to deduct a point was seen as controversial, with Combat Press awarding this bout their "Robbery of the Year" award, and declaring that "the referee blatantly robbed him of a victory when he handed [Kaew] a yellow card".

During the post-fight interview, Anpo stated his dissatisfaction with how the fight ended and called for a rematch with Kaew.

The immediate rematch was scheduled six months after their first fight, at K-1 World GP 2019 Japan: ～Women's Flyweight Championship Tournament～ on December 28, 2019.