Kiyoshi Tanabe (田辺清, born October 10, 1940) is a retired Japanese boxer who won a bronze medal at the 1960 Olympics.

Biography

As an amateur Tanabe won a bronze medal at the 1960 Olympics, becoming the first Japanese boxer to win an Olympic medal. His amateur record was 115-5 (30RSC). He made his professional debut in 1963, and won the Japanese

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 b ...

title in 1965, which he defended twice before vacating. In February 1967, he fought WBA & WBC

champion Horacio Accavallo in a non-title match, and won by 6th-round TKO. Tanabe was scheduled to get his first world title shot in July 1967, and expectations heightened around the talented fighter. However, it was discovered that he had suffered a detached retina in his right eye, which forced him into retirement. He had surgery on his right eye, but lost his vision two years later.

References

1940 births Living people Flyweight boxers Olympic bronze medalists for Japan Boxers at the 1960 Summer Olympics People from Aomori (city) Olympic boxers of Japan Olympic medalists in boxing Asian Games medalists in boxing Boxers at the 1962 Asian Games Japanese male boxers Medalists at the 1960 Summer Olympics Asian Games gold medalists for Japan {{Japan-boxing-bio-stub Medalists at the 1962 Asian Games