Above: Miyo Yoshida and her daughter, Mina, are both overcome after the victory over Ebanie Bridges. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

IN THE EMOTIONAL AFTERMATH OF HER TWO-DIVISION TRIUMPH, MIYO YOSHIDA BECAME BOXING’S NEWEST HERO 

On a day like this, navigating the perennially delayed transit system of New York City as she ran late for an interview, Miyo Yoshida certainly missed being home in Japan.

She laughed when told that her interviewer has been to the Land of the Rising Sun and is well aware that the trains always run on time, unlike in the Big Apple.

“Yeah, she definitely struggles with the trains here, especially coming from Japan,” said her translator, Koji Shinozaki. 

Living in a new country is still a work in progress for the IBF bantamweight champion and her 8-year-old daughter, Mina, but the duo have been embraced by New Yorkers since their arrival last year, especially by one Lou DiBella, the hall of fame promoter who has long had a love-hate relationship with boxing. But when his friend Bruce Silverglade, owner of Gleason’s Gym, told him of Yoshida and her story as a single mom trying to get one more shot at a world title, he was all-in.

Yoshida showcased a wicked uppercut while defeating Casey Morton Croft to win the vacant WBO junior bantamweight title in June 2019. (Photo by Naoki Fukuda)

“It was totally personal; it wasn’t much about boxing,” said DiBella. “Bruce told me she was a world champion, she’s in her thirties, she’s a single mom. And he also explained to me a little bit about her personally, which I found very fascinating. She wanted her daughter to come to America, learn English, and she wanted to open up the world to her daughter. And I did my homework, so I knew she could fight a little bit.”

A two-time WBO junior bantamweight titleholder with a 15-3 record at the time, yeah, Yoshida could fight a little bit. But at the age of 35 and having lost her belt via split decision to Tamao Ozawa in May of 2022, there was a bit of a cloudy future for the Kagoshima native. But she had a plan … or at least a dream.

Yoshida always makes a point of sharing victory with her daughter (here after the first defense of her title against Li Ping Shi). (Photo by Naoki Fukuda)

“I became a world champion twice in Japan, but I always wanted to come to the United States to win another title,” Yoshida said. “That’s why I made this decision to move to New York.”

Immediately adopted by the Gleason’s crowd, which is home to a host of world-class female fighters, including Heather Hardy and Ronica Jeffrey, Yoshida and DiBella hit it off, with the former champion making just one request of the promoter:

“Get me another shot at the world title. Can you do that for me?”

He was going to try, but after a win in her promotional debut over Indeya Smith last April, a loss to Shurretta Metcalf in November appeared to dash Yoshida’s hopes for that shot at a belt.

Not so fast. IBF President Daryl Peoples was ringside for Metcalf-Yoshida and saw that it was a competitive bout, with Metcalf’s height making her a nightmare matchup for anyone at 118 pounds.

“Daryl thought it was a great fight and a close fight,” said DiBella, who jumped into action when he saw that Avril Mathie was forced out of a December 9 title fight with IBF bantamweight champion Ebanie Bridges due to injury, pitching Yoshida to Peoples and the promoter of the card, Matchroom, as a replacement foe.

Both signed off, and Yoshida had her title fight. On less than two weeks’ notice. All she had to do was win it, and with perhaps her best performance to date, she simply outworked the heavy favorite over 10 rounds. 

Then the scores were read: 99-91, 99-91, 97-93 for the winner … and new …

It was a blur after that for Yoshida.

“Everything happened so suddenly and super quick,” she said. “It took a while for it to hit that I actually became a two-division world champion.”

Then the indelible image from that night, and perhaps the most memorable one of 2023, as a tearful Mina hugged her mother in the middle of the ring. They’d made it. A single mom and her daughter, on top of the world. In a negative business full of people jaded by dealing with nonsense day in and day out, this was an early Christmas gift.

That uppercut again, this time against Yoshie Wakasa in 2019, the fight that led to Yoshida’s title shot against Croft. (Photo by Naoki Fukuda)

“I was very happy,” Yoshida said of the universal positive reaction to her win, which earned her the Most Inspirational Female Fighter award from The Ring for 2023. “I always wanted to be acknowledged by people from abroad, and not only from people in Japan. So I’ve been super, super happy that I’m being acknowledged by people from all over the world.”

“That was one of the most fun nights,” said DiBella. “I wasn’t there. But being home and watching that on TV, I’m actually sort of glad I got to see everything the way it unfolded with her daughter and saw what the public saw. It inspired me. And it takes a lot after 35 years of this miserable, wretched business for something to inspire me.”

What it did, beyond the underdog winning the big fight story, and mother and daughter sharing a private moment in front of the world, was let everyone know how resilient single mothers are. That’s something that isn’t always acknowledged, and it’s doubly so in Japan, where Yoshida has nonetheless become a role model for single moms.

Yoshida is embraced by her daughter after defeating Bridges for the IBF bantamweight title. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

“It’s a lot harder being a single mother in Japan compared to here in the U.S.,” Yoshida said. “People are a lot more welcoming in the U.S., but back in Japan, when I was starting to achieve success in my career, people were like, ‘No, you should stop; it’s too risky. You should go ahead and just become an employee at a big company or something, instead of taking the big risks.’ So, yeah, definitely it’s harder in Japan.”

Yoshida refused to be stopped, though, even through the tough times that come not just with boxing, but motherhood. 

“It could get difficult sometimes, but since I’m doing something that I love, I never thought that it was difficult. And I want to encourage people that instead of thinking about it, take action to achieve something big. That’s the message that I want to send, not just to the single mothers, but everybody.”

Mina is already sparring, and mom proudly says, “I believe that she has more talent than I do,” clearly supporting any desire her daughter has to step into the ring one day. And if the pair one day become a mother-daughter championship duo, that may actually be a story to top this one. But that’s probably a couple decades away. For now, let’s enjoy this one. 

“It’s the most relatable story,” said DiBella. “It’s someone really fighting for a better future for their kid by fighting. Miyo knew she was in her thirties. Miyo knew she needed someone to help her get to the next step. She also believed coming to America would pay dividends for her and her daughter. It’s a magical little story. And it happened weirdly and organically.”