was a Japanese
boxer Boxer most commonly refers to:
* Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing
*Boxer (dog), a breed of dog
Boxer or boxers may also refer to:
Animal kingdom
* Boxer crab
* Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans
* Boxer snipe ee ...
who won a gold medal at the 1964 Olympics.
Amateur career
Born in
Sawara, Chiba
was a city located in Katori District, Chiba Prefecture, Japan.
History
Sawara has been settled since prehistoric times, and has numerous remains of Jōmon period shell middens and Kofun period burial mounds. By the Nara period, it had devel ...
, Sakurai began boxing in high school, keeping his training secret to his parents. Although there was no trainer in his high school, Sakurai won the Japan's inter-high school championship in the bantamweight division in 1960.
Then he entered
Chuo University
, commonly referred to as or , is a private flagship research university in Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1885 as Igirisu Hōritsu Gakkō (the English Law School), Chuo is one of the oldest and most prestigious institutions in the country. The univer ...
,
and won the All-Japan Amateur Boxing Championships in the bantamweight division in 1963.
Sakurai captured the Olympic boxing gold medal at the
1964 Tokyo Olympics
The , officially the and commonly known as Tokyo 1964 ( ja, 東京1964), were an international multi-sport event held from 10 to 24 October 1964 in Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo had been awarded the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this hon ...
in his senior year. In the final versus Chung Shin-Cho of South Korea, he knocked down his opponent three times in less than two rounds. The referee stopped the contest. Sakurai became the first Japanese boxer to win Olympic gold, with
Ryōta Murata
is a Japanese professional boxer. He held the WBA (Super) middleweight title between January 2021 and April 2022, he also held the WBA (Regular) title twice between 2017 and January 2021. As an amateur boxing, amateur, he won a silver medal at ...
winning the second Olympic gold in boxing for Japan in the middleweight division in the
2012 London Olympics
The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
. His career record in amateur competition was 138-13.
1964 Olympic results
Below are the results of Takao Sakurai, a Japanese bantamweight boxer, who competed at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics:
*Defeated
Brian Packer (Great Britain) on points, 4-1
*Defeated
Cassis Aryee (Ghana) on points, 5-0
*Defeated
Nicolae Puiu
Nicolae Puiu (4 December 1935 – 4 February 1970) was a Romanian boxer. He competed at the 1960 Summer Olympics
The 1960 Summer Olympics ( it, Giochi Olimpici estivi del 1960), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad ( it, Gio ...
(Romania) on points, 5-0
*Defeated
Washington Rodríguez (Uruguay) on points, 5-0
*Defeated
Chung Shin-Cho
Chung Shin-Cho (; born January 6, 1940) is a retired amateur boxer from South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shari ...
(South Korea) referee stopped contest in second round (won gold medal)
Professional career
Sakurai's feat in the Olympics heightened hopes for his professional career, and he made his professional debut from Misako Boxing Gym
in March, 1965. He won 22 straight fights,
but was unable to make a full transition from his cautious, amateur boxing style to a more aggressive, professional style. He could win only 4 fights by knockout out of his 32 professional fights.
Sakurai challenged
Lionel Rose
Lionel Edmund Rose MBE (21 June 1948 – 8 May 2011) was an Australian former professional boxer who competed from 1964 to 1976. He held the undisputed WBA, WBC, and ''The Ring'' bantamweight titles from 1968 to 1969, becoming the first Ind ...
for the world
bantamweight
Bantamweight is a weight class in combat sports. For boxing, the range is above and up to . In kickboxing, a bantamweight fighter generally weighs between . In mixed martial arts, MMA, bantamweight is .
The name for the class is derived from Ba ...
title on July 2, 1968. He got a knockdown in the 2nd round,
but ended up losing by decision in 15 rounds. He suffered the first knockout loss of his career against
Rubén Olivares
Rubén Olivares Avila (born January 14, 1947) is a Mexican former professional boxer and a member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame., Olivares was a world champion multiple times, and considered by many as the greatest bantamweight champio ...
in May, 1969 in a non-title match. Later that year, he won the OPBF bantamweight title, which he defended twice before announcing his retirement in 1970. His professional record was 30-2-0 (4KOs), and he was the top-ranked world bantamweight contender when he retired.
Post retirement
Sakurai founded his own boxing gym One Two Sports Club, in
Tsukiji
Tsukiji (築地) is a district of Chūō, Tokyo, Japan. Literally meaning "reclaimed land", it lies near the Sumida River on land reclaimed from Tokyo Bay in the 18th century during the Edo period. The eponymous Tsukiji fish market opened in 193 ...
,
Chūō, Tokyo
is a Special wards of Tokyo, special ward that forms part of the heart of Tokyo, Japan. The ward refers to itself in English as Chūō City. It was formed in 1947 as a merger of Kyōbashi, Tokyo, Kyobashi and Nihonbashi wards following Tokyo C ...
, and worked as a trainer there.
He was the first man to practice
Koichi Wajima
Koichi Wajima (輪島 功一, born 21 April 1943) is a Japanese former professional boxer who was the undisputed light-middleweight champion. He held the WBA and WBC titles from 1971 and 1974, he regained the titles in January 1975 that included ...
's "Frog Jump" punch under the guidance of Hitoshi Misako who is the president of Misako Boxing Gym where he trained during his career as a boxer. His eldest son has also had a successful amateur boxing career, winning a national tournament in the
featherweight
Featherweight is a weight class in the combat sports of boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, and Greco-Roman wrestling.
Boxing
Professional boxing
History
A featherweight boxer weighs in at a limit of . In the early days of the division, this ...
division.
Sakurai died of
esophageal cancer
Esophageal cancer is cancer arising from the esophagus—the food pipe that runs between the throat and the stomach. Symptoms often include difficulty in swallowing and weight loss. Other symptoms may include pain when swallowing, a hoarse voice ...
in Tokyo at dawn on January 10, 2012,
the birthday of Hitoshi Misako.
References
External links
*
Takao Sakurai's sports club (Japanese)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sakurai, Takao
1941 births
2012 deaths
Bantamweight boxers
Olympic gold medalists for Japan
Boxers at the 1964 Summer Olympics
Sportspeople from Chiba Prefecture
Olympic boxers of Japan
Olympic medalists in boxing
Japanese boxing trainers
Chuo University alumni
Japanese male boxers
Medalists at the 1964 Summer Olympics
People from Katori, Chiba