World class boxer Nakatani Masayoshi receives P-1 visa

We are proud to announce yet another successful P-1 petition. 

We effectively petitioned for a P-1 visa for world class boxer Mr. Nakatani Masayoshi. 

Managing Member of the firm, Sherrod Seward successfully presented the petition proving eligibility for the P-1 visa as a World Class Boxer to USCIS. He provided as many documents as possible for each of the criteria satisfied by Mr. Masayoshi. 

The Athlete

Mr. Masayoshi is one of the best boxers in the world. He has been a world class athlete for a long time and has garnered a great amount of international acclaim during his career.  He has faced tremendous competition all over the United States and Europe garnering acclaim from fans all over the world. 

The Petitioner

Top Rank Inc. was founded by Bob Arum, a Promoter and member of the Boxing Hall of Fame, in Nevada in 2010. Their world class events are viewable all over the world through networks such as ESPN and ESPN+. Top Rank Inc prides itself on offering boxers opportunities inside and outside the ring and looks forward to continuing to grow while serving the needs of fight fans around the globe. The company currently has a 30 event per year broadcast deal with ESPN, the leading sports network in the United States.

Las Vegas-based Top Rank stands as the country’s premiere boxing promotions company for one reason: they take care of their fighters and their fans. For nearly half a century, Top Rank has nurtured some of the sport’s all-time greats and produced some of its most exciting bouts. The company further expands its brand while introducing the sport of boxing to a new generation of fans.

Muhammad Ali, George Foreman, Roberto Duran, Marvin Haggler, and Sugar Ray Leonard are just some of the all-time greats Top Rank has promoted during their more than 50 years in the sport.

Top Rank has staged some of the biggest fights in history featuring its biggest stars—names and events that transcend the confines of the ring and reverberate throughout the culture. The company built its global reputation as the gold standard in boxing: by developing talent, creating innovative programming, and orchestrating world-class events.

More recently, Top Rank has guided the careers of Floyd Mayweather Jr., Miguel Cotto, Oscar De La Hoya, and Manny Pacquiao. Their current stable of champions is similarly poised for success. Vasiliy Lomachenko, Terence Crawford, Oscar Valdez, Gilberto Ramirez, Jose Ramirez: these fighters represent the best the sport has to offer, as well as its global appeal. 

Top Rank Inc. has promoted 1500 events with 9000 fights in 22 different countries.

The P-1 Petition

We demonstrated that Top Rank, the petitioner, would like to extend the P-1A status upon Mr. Tony Masayoshi, whom they consider to be an exceptionally talented boxer.

In the petition, we presented Mr. Masayoshi as the world-class athlete he is by revealing his participation and excellence in international boxing competitions. We were able to give details and competition itinerary for the athlete. Apart from these, we provided compelling evidence on several criteria to support his petition.  

International Ranking of Mr. Masayoshi

We provided evidence that the athlete is highly ranked internationally to demonstrate that the beneficiary has a reputation beyond a single country. We presented the following international rankings for Mr. Masayoshi: 

• 22nd best boxer in the world in his weight class 

• 3rd best boxer in this weight class in Japan 

• Top 1 percentile of the best boxers in the world in his weight class. 

All of these were indicated in Boxrec record attached in the petition. BoxRec or boxrec.com is a website dedicated to holding updated records of professional boxers, both male and female. It also maintains a MediaWiki-based encyclopaedia of boxing. The objective of the site is to document every professional boxer and boxing match from the instigation of the Queensberry Rules up to the present times. BoxRec publishes ratings for all active boxers and all time ratings. Since 2012 the site has hosted Barry Hugman's History of World Championship Boxing. Boxrec record also contains evidence that the beneficiary has won competitions to support their world rankings, expert opinions on the significance of the competitions, independent articles from outlets around the world, confirmation from boxing national federations of multiple countries, and explanations of the selection process for these competitions that garner the world ranking are included as evidence.

Internationally-recognised Award

We proved that Mr. Masayoshi is a person of extraordinary ability in the field of Boxing by showcasing his successful career. We presented details of the following prestigious international championship won by him: 

OFBF World Championship 

This represents the premier sanctioning body in Asia.   Only the best fighters in the world are chosen to compete for championship opportunities. The beneficiary was the only holder of this championship at the time he held them.

We provided ample evidence that Mr. Masayoshi meets at least two of the P-1 criteria and qualifies for the non-immigrant P-1 visa. We showcased his international recognition, substantiated by his credentials and achievements as a world class Professional Boxer. We, therefore, successfully demonstrated that he is unambiguously qualified to be classified as a P-1 athlete of extraordinary ability.

For more information on how we help support professional athletes and coaches with O-1 and P-1 visas, please contact our offices at 310-209-8545.