Keiji Yamaguchi (山口圭司 ''Yamaguchi Keiji'', born February 17, 1974) is a former professional boxer from

Hakodate is a city and port located in Oshima Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. It is the capital city of Oshima Subprefecture. As of July 31, 2011, the city has an estimated population of 279,851 with 143,221 households, and a population density of 412.8 ...

Hokkaido is Japan's second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by the undersea railway Seikan Tunnel. The la ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. Yamaguchi held the WBA

light flyweight Light flyweight, also known as junior flyweight or super strawweight, is a weight class in boxing. Professional boxing The weight limit at light flyweight in professional boxing is 108 pounds (49 kilograms). When New York legalized boxing in 1920 ...

championship of the world, defeating

Panamanian Panamanians (Spanish: ''Panameños'') are people identified with Panama, a transcontinental country in Central America (a region within North America) and South America, whose connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For mo ...

champion

Carlos Murillo Carlos Murillo is an American playwright, director, and professor of Puerto Rican and Colombian descent. Based in Chicago, Murillo is a professor and head of the Playwriting program at the Theatre School at DePaul University. He is best known for ...

in 1996 via a 12th-round

split decision A split decision (SD) is a winning criterion in boxing, most commonly in full-contact combat sports, in which two of the three judges score one particular competitor as the winner, while the third judge scores for the other competitor. A split dec ...

. He became Japan's 37th world champion. After he had won the world championship, he had only defended the title once by defeating his old rival Carlos Murillo in the middle of the same year via a 12th-round

unanimous decision A unanimous decision (UD) is a winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts and other sports involving striking and submission in which all three judges agree on which fighter ...

. Later on, he was suddenly lost in the end of the year 1996, when he lost by TKO just the second round against the Thai challenger Pichit Chor Siriwat (previously known as Pichitnoi Sitbangprachan) in a bout at Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium,

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...

. He was hit by Chor Siriwat's right hook. When got up, the referee stopped the contest because he was not in a condition to continue fighting. Yamaguchi is regarded as a Japanese boxer who had the opportunity to challenge for several world championships. In 1995, he challenged for the first world championship against

Choi Hi-yong Hi-Yong Choi (born 1965-09-13 in Korea) is a former professional boxer. He is a former WBA light-flyweight champion. Professional career Choi turned professional in 1987 and captured the WBA light flyweight title in 1991 in only his 10th pro ...

, a South Korean crown holder, but he was defeated via a 12th-round split decision. After that, he challenged two more world championships, in the WBA

flyweight Flyweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Flyweight is a class in boxing which includes fighters weighing above 49 kg (108 lb) and up to 51 kg (112 lb). Professional boxing The flyweight division was the last of bo ...

division against José Bonilla from Venezuela in 1997 and the

WBC WBC may stand for: Business *Westinghouse Broadcasting Company, a former large India broadcaster now folded into CBS *Westpac (New Delhi Exchange code: WBC), a multinational Financial services company *Wholesale Broadband Connect, BT Wholesale's ...

super flyweight Super flyweight, also referred to as junior bantamweight, is a boxing weight classes, weight class in professional boxing, contested from and up to . History The first title match in this division was in 1980, when the World Boxing Council respond ...

division with South Korea's

In-Joo Cho In-Joo Cho (Hangul: 조인주, Hanja: 曺仁柱) (born April 13, 1969 in Damyang, Jeollanam-do, South Korea) is a former boxer from South Korea. He held the WBC and Lineal Super flyweight titles. Amateur career In 1987, Oh won the gold medal in ...

in 1999. But were all defeated, including challenging the WBC super flyweight international championship with Gerry Peñalosa, a former Filipino world champion, he was defeated by TKO just the first round in 2001 in the Philippines. His nicknamed "Prince" because his idol is Naseem Hamed, a superstar British boxer of Yemeni descent in featherweight class. Hence, he imitated Hamed's nerves fighting style, including trunks design as well.

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External links

* 1974 births Light-flyweight boxers Living people World Boxing Association champions Japanese male boxers People from Hakodate category:Super-flyweight boxers category:Flyweight boxers category:Southpaw boxers {{Japan-boxing-bio-stub

See also

References

External links