He won by technical knockout in the 8th round, becoming the fourth Japanese boxer to have captured world titles in two different weight classes.
Hatakeyama chose fellow Japanese boxer Hiroyuki Sakamoto to challenge his title, and the two fought an epic fight in October, 2000.
In February, 2001, he fought American born fighter Rick Yoshimura, who had defended the Japanese lightweight title 22 consecutive times.
He opened an amateur boxing gym with former WBA Middleweight champion Shinji Takehara, and occasionally appears on television shows.
He works as a special staff member for a boxing and fitness gym in Kyoto, personally teaching classes once or twice a month.
He is known to be an avid fan of the Rakuten Eagles baseball team, and attended Aomori University in 2007 to obtain a bachelor's degree.