He has all the attributes to become a star. Sewon is the Asian boxing champion and a promising prospect at the age of 28. In a recent interview with Olympics.com he said he wanted to be "the LeBron James of amateur boxing". The NBA star is his idol and an inspiration, even though he is not a boxer. At 40, the American is about to enter his third decade of Olympic competition.

Sewon will be competing in the 71kg category at Paris 2024 and will be aiming for an Olympic gold medal to mirror LeBron James' success. "There are too many things I want to achieve that I won't be able to if I don't win a gold medal. That's why I want to win it," Okazawa told Olympics.com.

"I want to give something back to a lot of people. I want to become more famous. I want to grow amateur boxing. To achieve all this, an Olympic gold medal is the quickest way, so I'm going to win it," he added.

He has a distinctive style and loves the spectacle. In 2021, he won a historic IBA World Championship, which he went on to medal. This success set him on his way. In 2023 he took part in the IBA Champions Night in Dubai, which coincided with the IBA Annual Congress. That was on 9 December 2023. At the time, his focus was already on the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

"My background is humble. I grew up in Yamagata Prefecture, in the north-east of Japan, and was a wrestler in primary and secondary school. The Olympic Games were what I really loved. I couldn't get into the high school programme I wanted, so my wrestling career came to an end," said Okazawa.

He considered trying rugby and athletics. However, it was only a matter of time before he turned to boxing. Those who knew him supported and encouraged him to try the sport that is now close to making him happiest.

"I wrestled from first grade to ninth grade. My dream was to become an Olympian in wrestling," he said. At the time, however, he didn't know that boxing was part of the Olympics.

Sewon does not see sport in the typical Japanese way, perhaps because he was born to a Ghanaian father and a Japanese mother. He thinks about sports and many other things, including culture. He has a very open mind. He graduated from Chuo University with a degree in law.

He sometimes jokes about the situations he finds himself in. Being a black Japanese is not very common. However, he laughs about it. "I'm black, no matter how you look at it. But there seems to be an atmosphere where I'm not allowed to mention it, as if I can't talk about my own identity when I feel it's one of my strengths," he admits.

By winning the Asian Championships at 71kg, he qualified for the Olympic Games, making it his second consecutive appearance after having missed out on Tokyo 2020.

In an interview with Olympics.com, he mentioned that he has two idols: James and Ishikawa Yuki. Yuki's personality is special. He has always been a true fighter, dedicated to taking Japan's volleyball team to the top.

Who knows, they might even win medals in Paris 2024. Ishikawa describes Okazawa as a humble athlete who focuses on achieving rather than bragging. "He just goes about it. He is who he is because he did what he had to do. 

"There are a lot of people in boxing who show off, not that there's anything wrong with that. They like to show off - me, me, me. That sort of thing. It motivates boxers," said Ishikawa.

Okazawa's main goal for these Olympics, however, is to win a medal and meet James. "The incredible thing about him is that even people who don't know basketball know who LeBron is. That's amazing and that's my standard," he concluded.