is a Japanese professional boxer who held the WBO mini-flyweight title from 2021 to 2023.

Professional career Early career Career beginnings Taniguchi made his professional debut against Thawi Chaisat on 3 April 2016, and won the fight by a first-round knockout. He amassed an 8–1 record over the next 15 months, achieving six of those victories by stoppage.

Taniguchi challenged the reigning OPBF mini-flyweight titlist Tsubasa Koura on 11 November 2017. He lost the fight by majority decision. Two judges scored the fight for Koura as 115-114 and 115–113, while the third judge scored it as a 114–114 draw.

Following his failed OPBF title bid, Taniguchi faced Patiphan Prajuabsook on 31 December 2017. He won the fight by a third-round technical knockout. Taniguchi was next scheduled to face Reymark Taday on 8 February 2018, and won the fight by a sixth-round technical decision. Taniguchi fought Joel Lino for the vacant WBO Asia Pacific mini-flyweight title on 13 November 2018. He won the fight by unanimous decision. Two judges scored eleven of the twelve rounds for Taniguchi, while the third judge scored it 116-112 for him.

These three victories earned Taniguchi the change to challenge the reigning WBO mini-flyweight champion Vic Saludar, in the latter's first title defense, on 26 February 2019. Saludar won the fight by unanimous decision, with two judges scoring the fight 117–111 in his favor, while the third judge awarded him a 118-110 scorecard.

Taniguchi was scheduled to face the undefeated prospect Kai Ishizawa on 21 September 2019. He won the eight-round bout by unanimous decision, with scores of 77–74, 77-74 and 78–74.

Japanese mini-flyweight champion Taniguchi was scheduled to fight Hizuki Saso for the vacant Japanese mini-flyweight title on 3 December 2020. He won the fight by a tenth-round technical knockout, and was awarded all nine prior rounds by two of the three judges, while the third scored eight of the nine rounds for Taniguchi. Taniguchi made his first Japanese mini-flyweight title defense against Tatsuro Nakashima on 7 June 2021. He dominated the bout, winning all four rounds prior to the fifth-round technical knockout of Nakashima.

WBO mini-flyweight champion Taniguchi vs. Méndez On 7 October 2021, the WBO ordered Wilfredo Méndez to make his third mini-flyweight title defense against the mandatory challenger Masataka Taniguchi. On 27 October 2021, a successful purse bid was held, which had a minimum bid of $40,000. The bout would take place on 14 December 2021, at the Ryōgoku Kokugikan in Tokyo, Japan. Taniguchi won the fight by an eleventh-round technical knockout. He first knocked Méndez down with a left straight in the second round, which put him in an early point lead, which was made greater after Méndez was deducted a point in the sixth round for excessive holding. Taniguchi upped his output in the eleventh round, forcing referee Nobuto Ikehara to stop the fight with a flurry of punches to which the cornered Méndez did not respond.

Taniguchi vs. Ishizawa Taniguchi was booked to make his first WBO mini-flyweight title defense against Kai Ishizawa on 22 April 2022, in the main event of PBX Phoenix Battle 87, which was broadcast as a pay per view by Abema TV. The bout was a rematch of their 21 September 2019 meeting, which Taniguchi won by unanimous decision. It took place at the Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan. Although Taniguchi weighed in at 47.6 kg, 0.2 below the championship limit, Ishizawa came in 2.5 kg above the limit. Ishizawa failed to make weight in his second attempt as well, as he weighed in at 49.9 kg. Ishizawa was allowed to compete after making 49.9 kg on the day of the fight, although he was ineligible to win the title. Taniguchi retained the belt by an eleventh-round technical knockout, forcing a referee stoppage with a flurry of punches at the 2:29 minute mark of the penultimate round. He was leading on the scorecards at the time of the stoppage, with all three judges having scored the fight 99–91 in his favor.

Taniguchi vs. Jerusalem

Taniguchi is scheduled to make his second WBO championship defense against the one-time WBC mini-flyweight title challenger Melvin Jerusalem. The bout was scheduled as the main event of "3150 FIGHT vol.4" and took place at the Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium in Osaka, Japan on 6 January 2023. It was broadcast by Abema TV. Taniguchi lost the fight by a second-round technical knockout. He was dropped with a one-two combination near the beginning of the round and remained unsteady on his feet despite beating the ten-count, which prompted referee Roberto Ramirez Jr. to wave the bout off.

Light flyweight Taniguchi vs. Horikawa Taniguchi made his light flyweight debut against the former OPBF and Japanese light flyweight champion Kenichi Horikawa on 5 August 2023, at the Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan in the main event of a U-Next broadcast show. He won the fight by majority decision, with two scorecards of 96–94 in his favor and one even 95–95 scorecard. Taniguchi revealed that he had suffered a broken jaw in the fifth round during a post-fight interview. He successfully underwent surgery on 9 August. Taniguchi fully recovered by the end of February 2024, when he was permitted by his physician to once again train and spar at full intensity.

Taniguchi vs. Abcede On 17 April 2024, Taniguchi's representatives Treasure Boxing Promotion held a press conference at the Watanabe Gym in Shinagawa to announce he would face Jaysever Abcede on 11 May 2024. The contest will take place at the Paradise City Grand Ballroom in Incheon, South Korea, as an undercard fight for the flyweight bout between Hiroto Kyoguchi and Vince Paras. He won via technical knockout in the fifth round.

Taniguchi vs. Santiago Taniguchi challenged WBO and WBA light-flyweight champion René Santiago of Puerto Rico at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan, on 3 April 2026. Taniguchi was dropped in the fifth round and lost a unanimous decision.

Professional boxing record

ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes27Loss21–6René SantiagoUD123 Apr 202626Win21–5Takeru Inoue TKO5 (12), 3 Aug 202525Win20–5Condor Inaba TKO3 (8), 20 May 202524Loss19–5Thanongsak SimsriSD1215 Dec 202423Win19–4Paipharob KokietgymKO6 (8), 13 Oct 202422Win18–4Jaysever AbcedeTKO5 (8), 11 May 202421Win17–4Kenichi HorikawaMD105 Aug 202320Loss16–4Melvin JerusalemTKO2 (12) 6 Jan 202319Win16–3 Kai IshizawaTKO11 (12), 22 Apr 2022 18Win15–3 Wilfredo MéndezTKO11 (12), 14 Dec 2021 17Win14–3 Tatsuro NakashimaTKO5 (10), 7 Jun 2021 16Win13–3 Hizuki SasoTKO10 (10), 3 Dec 2020 15Win12–3 Kai IshizawaUD821 Sep 2019 14Loss11–3 Vic SaludarUD1226 Feb 2019 13Win11–2 Joel LinoUD1213 Nov 2018 12Win10–2 Reymark Taday6 (8), 9 Feb 2018 11Win9–2 Patiphan PrajuabsookTKO3 (8), 31 Dec 2017 10Loss8–2 Tsubasa KouraMD1211 Nov 2017 9Win8–1 Narathip SungsutTKO1 (8), 30 Jul 2017 8Win7–1 Benjie Bartolome1 (6), 27 Jun 2017 7Loss6–1 Reiya Konishi109 Apr 2017 6Win6–0 Vincent Bautista631 Dec 2016 5Win5–0 Dexter Alimento813 Oct 2016 4Win4–0 Chaowalit ChoedramTKO4 (8), 7 Aug 2016 3Win3–0 Joey BactulKO2 (8), 19 Jun 2016 2Win2–0 Nonthawat Phengkrajang1 (6), 16 May 2016 1Win1–0 Thawi Chaisat1 (6), 3 Apr 2016

See also List of world mini-flyweight boxing champions List of Japanese boxing world champions

References

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