is a former

World Boxing Council The World Boxing Council (WBC) is an international professional boxing organization. It is among the four major organizations which sanction professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), International Boxing Federation ...

(WBC) world bantamweight champion from

Kurashiki is a city located in Okayama Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 478,651 and a population density of 1300 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Geography Kurashiki is located in the south-central part of Okay ...

Okayama is the prefectural capital, capital Cities of Japan, city of Okayama Prefecture in the Chūgoku region of Japan. The Okayama metropolitan area, centered around the city, has the largest urban employment zone in the Chugoku region of western J ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. His record is 20–7–1 (14 KOs). He is popular for his fight style and unique personality, and has appeared in several television

variety shows Variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is entertainment made up of a variety of acts including musical performances, sketch comedy, magic, acrobatics, juggling, and ventriloquism. It is normally introduced by a compè ...

. He is named after Joe Yabuki, the main character of the boxing

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

, ''

Ashita no Joe , also known as ''Ashita no Joe: Fighting for Tomorrow'', is a Japanese boxing manga series written by Asao Takamori and illustrated by Tetsuya Chiba. It follows drifter Joe Yabuki, who discovers a passion for boxing in a juvenile pri ...

'' (''Tomorrow's Joe''). Coincidentally, he fights in the same

weight class Weight classes are divisions of competition used to match competitors against others of their own size. Weight classes are used in a variety of sports including Rowing (sport), rowing, Weightlifting#Weightlifting sports, weight lifting, and especi ...

(

bantamweight Bantamweight is a weight class in combat sports and weightlifting. 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 ...

) as the character he is named after. He has a large reach in comparison with his height (Tatsuyoshi is 164 cm tall with a reach of 178 cm) and is known for his distinctively low guard. He often keeps his hands in front of his chest, unlike other boxers who usually keep their hands closer to the head. He is managed by the Osaka Teiken boxing gym.

Biography

Tatsuyoshi's father was a boxing fan and began training his son when he was a toddler. After graduating from middle school, Tatsuyoshi moved to

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

to begin training, working part-time at restaurants to support himself. Tatsyoshi won the Japanese amateur bantamweight championship at age 17, becoming a candidate for the

Seoul Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and officially branded as Seoul 1988 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. 159 nations were represe ...

. Tatsuyoshi was featured in a local

Kansai The or the lies in the southern-central region of Japan's main island Honshū. The region includes the prefectures of Nara, Wakayama, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyōgo and Shiga, often also Mie, sometimes Fukui, Tokushima and Tottori. The metropoli ...

newspaper as one of Japan's best young boxers. His amateur record was 18–1–0. Tatsuyoshi turned pro in 1989 and won the Japanese Bantamweight in his fourth professional fight. He won the WBC World Bantamweight Title in his eighth professional fight in 1991, the fastest of any Japanese boxer (

Nobuo Nashiro is a Japanese professional boxer in the super flyweight (115 lb) division as well as the WBA super flyweight champion. Early life Nashiro took an interest in boxing during elementary school, when his father took him to a boxing match for the ...

tied this record in 2006, winning the WBA Super Flyweight Title in his eighth fight). However, he was discovered to have a torn

retina The retina (; or retinas) is the innermost, photosensitivity, light-sensitive layer of tissue (biology), tissue of the eye of most vertebrates and some Mollusca, molluscs. The optics of the eye create a focus (optics), focused two-dimensional ...

while training for his first title defense, forcing him into rehabilitation. Almost a full year after winning the title, Tatsuyoshi fought

Victor Rabanales Victor Manuel Rabanales (born December 23, 1962) is a Mexican former professional boxer. He is a former WBC bantamweight Champion. He was trained by Boxing Hall of Famer Ignacio Beristáin. Professional career In August 1983, Rabanales won hi ...

, who had become the WBC Interim Champion during Tatsuyoshi's inactivity. Tatsuyoshi lost by TKO in the ninth round but vowed revenge, claiming it was his twin brother "Joujirou" who had lost the fight. Tatsuyoshi fought Rabanales again on July 22, 1993, for the WBC World Bantamweight Interim Title, defeating Rabanales by 12-round decision. In September of the same year, he was found to have another eye injury; this time a detached left retina, forcing him to give up his interim title and nearly forcing him into retirement. Tatsuyoshi managed to continue his career, making a comeback in July 1994 in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

, knocking out his opponent in three rounds. The WBC returned the interim title to Tatsuyoshi after the fight. In December, 1994, Tatsuyoshi fought WBC Bantamweight Champion

Yasuei Yakushiji is a former professional boxer who fought in the bantamweight division. He successfully defended the WBC bantamweight title four times during his career. Biography Yakushiji began boxing under influence of his father, who was an amateur boxe ...

. Being a title match between two Japanese fighters, the match generated huge media attention, and Tatsuyoshi was a huge favorite to win. However, he ended with a loss by 12-round decision, losing his interim title. Tatsuyoshi challenged the WBC Super Bantamweight Champion twice in 1996 and 1997, but lost both times. Many began to believe he was no longer capable of fighting at the world level, and in November 1997, Tatsuyoshi challenged undefeated WBC Bantamweight Champion

Sirimongkol Singwangcha Sirimongkol Singmanasak (; born 2 March 1977) is a Thai professional boxer, bare-knuckle boxer and kickboxer. He is a world champion in two weight classes, having held the World Boxing Council (WBC) bantamweight title in 1997, and the WBC supe ...

, with the intent of retiring if he failed to win. Despite the odds, he won by TKO in seventh round, reclaiming his title after three years. Tatsuyoshi recorded two title defenses before losing to

Veeraphol Sahaprom Theeraphol Samranklang (; born November 16, 1968), known professionally as Veeraphol Sahaprom () or mononymously as Veeraphol, is a Thai retired professional Muay Thai fighter and professional boxer. A three-division Rajadamnern Stadium champio ...

on December 29, 1998. He challenged Sahaprom in August 1999, but lost again in the seventh round, and announced his retirement after the fight. He changed his mind shortly afterwards and resumed his training, making a comeback fight on December 15, 2002, winning by TKO after more than three years of inactivity. He won again in September 2003, but fell into inactivity again after injuring his left knee. There are no plans for a next fight, but he still trains with his son, Jukiya, who wishes to follow his father into professional boxing.

Professional boxing record

Personal life

Tatsuyoshi admitted that he was bullied during his early childhood. He overcame it through boxing and never lost a street fight during his teens. He says he never used his fists when street fighting, because a bare knuckle punch could severely injure his opponent. He used open-handed slaps and elbows instead. Because of his experiences, Tatsuyoshi has appeared in public advertisements condemning

bullying Bullying is the use of force, coercion, Suffering, hurtful teasing, comments, or threats, in order to abuse, aggression, aggressively wikt:domination, dominate, or intimidate one or more others. The behavior is often repeated and habitual. On ...

. He is known to train exceptionally hard. Trainers used to keep their young boxers away from Tatsuyoshi, not because he might injure the younger boxers in a sparring session, but because the younger fighters might give up after seeing the enormous amount of time Tatsuyoshi spent training. After losing an amateur bout, he left his gym for about half a year,

homeless Homelessness, also known as houselessness or being unhoused or unsheltered, is the condition of lacking stable, safe, and functional housing. It includes living on the streets, moving between temporary accommodation with family or friends, liv ...

. He met his current wife at a cafe he stopped by during this period. Tatsuyoshi credits his wife for giving him the strength to return to his gym. He is friends with comedian

Hitoshi Matsumoto is a Japanese comedian and filmmaker. He was born in Amagasaki, Hyōgo Prefecture. He is one half of the comedy duo Downtown (owarai), Downtown, alongside Masatoshi Hamada, and is one of the most popular comedians in Japan. Matsumoto has directe ...

Downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in American and Canadian English to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district ( ...

and has appeared on his show ''Downtown DX''. He is also friends with baseball star

Ichiro Suzuki , also known mononymously as , is a Japanese former professional baseball outfielder who played for 28 seasons. He played the first nine years of his career with the Orix BlueWave of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB), and the next 12 years w ...

, who has attended several of Tatsuyoshi's fights. He has appeared numerous times in the popular Japanese boxing

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

Hajime no Ippo is a Japanese boxing-themed manga series written and illustrated by George Morikawa. It has been serialized by Kodansha in the manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' since October 1989, with its chapters collected in 143 volum ...

''.

Retirement

Tatsuyoshi turned 37 in May 2007. Tatsuyoshi had suffered several serious injuries, and his management has expressed a desire to not see him take further damage, making it difficult for him to fight in Japan. Tatsuyoshi "resurfaced" in

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

in 2008 to continue his career abroad. When commentating on televised boxing matches, Tatsuyoshi has shown clear signs of being

punch drunk Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a neurodegenerative disease linked to repeated trauma to the head. The encephalopathy symptoms can include behavioral problems, mood problems, and problems with thinking. The disease often gets worse ...

(slurred speech and forgetfulness), worrying his fans.

References

External links