Abe’s -66 kg crown gets tested as rivals close in

For years, Hifumi Abe has been the benchmark at -66 kg. His toughest pressure didn’t always come from abroad, but from home, where Joshiro Maruyama once pushed him relentlessly before retiring. With that chapter closed, the spotlight turns to a new question: who can actually make Abe look human again?

The 2025 World Championships delivered a real jolt. Obi Dzhebov (TJK) caught Abe with a counter for Ippon, a reminder that even the most dominant athlete can be flipped by one perfectly timed action. Abe has stayed unbeaten since, but that loss still lingers as proof that the gap isn’t unbridgeable.

One clean counter can change everything, even against the best.

The 2025 Tokyo Grand Slam added another warning sign. Kim Channyeong (KOR) managed to throw Abe and held the advantage deep into the match. Abe only escaped in the dying moments, turning the tide with his own throw and a pin to seal the win. It didn’t feel like business as usual; it felt like a narrow escape.

There hasn’t been a rematch with either Dzhebov or Kim so far, and neither is widely seen as Abe’s main long-term threat. That label is now attached to another domestic rival: Takeshi Takeoka.

Abe and Takeoka met at the same 2025 Tokyo Grand Slam, and Takeoka made it uncomfortable from the start. He brought more aggression and attacked more often, pushing a pace that suggested he was there to take the throne, not just challenge it. Abe still found a way, scoring Waza-ari to edge the contest, but the win came against the run of play.

Takeoka doesn’t need luck to trouble Abe—he needs one opening.

With Takeoka already a World Champion, the matchup carries weight. The feeling is that -66 kg could be heading toward another Japan-centered rivalry with the kind of tension that once defined Maruyama vs Abe.

Source: JudoInside