[17] In September 2008, Arakawa faced Filipino Randy Suico for the OPBF lightweight title, but the fight ended in a majority draw.
[18] Arakawa won the Japanese lightweight title via a majority decision from Akihiro Kondō in April 2010, after being knocked down for the first time in his career in round one.
[22] Arakawa successively captured the vacant OPBF lightweight title via a split decision over Filipino fighter Jay Solmiano in October 2011.
[23][24][Video 1] After defending his title against fellow Japanese Ryūji Migaki by a unanimous decision, he travelled to Los Angeles to spar with Miguel Vázquez and others for over a month.
In November 2012, Arakawa competed with Mexican Pedro Daniel Estrada in Mexico City on the main event of the Gala Ring Telmex 2012.
[38] On July 27, 2013, Arakawa made his U.S. debut at the event dubbed Knockout Kings II at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas.
His opponent fighting out of the blue corner was the undefeated Mexican-American fighter Omar Figueroa, Jr. and the WBC interim lightweight title was at stake.
[39] The incredibly tough fight that was aired live on Showtime Championship Boxing,[40] and on WOWOW in Japan,[41] ended in Figueroa's victory by a unanimous decision.
"[In 2013,] no fighter raised his stature during the course of one fight as much as Japanese veteran Nihito Arakawa did with the heroic effort he put forth against Omar Figueroa Jr. last July in San Antonio," Fischer later described.
[43] On March 8, 2014, Arakawa came back to the ring to face Japan-based Venezuelan Jorge Linares in a ten-round WBC title eliminator, with a mandatory shot against Omar Figueroa on the line.
It was featured on the undercard of the fight between Saúl Álvarez and Alfredo Angulo at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
[6][45] In the second half of 2014, he defeated Kondō in their rematch in July,[46] and lost to Katō in their rubber match in December, both by unanimous decision at Korakuen Hall.