Takao Sakurai boxer

Takao Sakurai boxer
bouts
32
won
30
lost
2
draw
0
Status
inactive
Division
bantamweight
Debut
1965-06-03
Height
5′ 4½″/164cm
Reach
-
Age
70
Born
1941-09-25
Death
2012-01-10
Nationality
Japan

Takao Sakurai (桜井 孝雄, Sakurai Takao, September 25, 1941 – January 10, 2012) was a Japanese boxer who won a gold medal at the 1964 Olympics.Born in Sawara, Chiba, 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, 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 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 winning the second Olympic gold in boxing for Japan in the middleweight division in the 2012 London Olympics. His career record in amateur competition was 138-13.Below are the results of Takao Sakurai, a Japanese bantamweight boxer, who competed at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics: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 for the world bantamweight 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 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.Sakurai founded his own boxing gym One Two Sports Club, in Tsukiji, Chūō, Tokyo, and worked as a trainer there. He was the first man to practice Koichi Wajima'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 division.

Date Opponent Last Opponents' Results Place Result
1970-11-28 Joe Malonso LWLLLL WIN
Points
1970-05-23 Alberto Jangalay WWDLLW Sapporo WIN
Unanimous decision
1970-02-26 Koichi Okada WWWWWW Utsunomiya WIN
Points
1969-10-23 Won-Suk Lee LLLWWW WIN
Unanimous decision
1969-09-18 Katsuyoshi Takayama DDWWLW Korakuen Hall WIN
Unanimous decision
1969-05-23 Ruben Olivares WWWWWW Forum, Inglewood LOST
Technical knockout
1969-03-27 Won-Suk Lee WWWWDL WIN
Unanimous decision
1969-01-02 Ushiwakamaru Harada LWDDDW WIN
Unanimous decision
1968-10-03 Romy Guelas LLDLWL WIN
Unanimous decision
1968-07-02 Lionel Rose WWWWWW Nippon Budokan LOST
Majority decision
1968-05-23 Ramiro Nides WLLWLW WIN
Unanimous decision
1968-04-18 Yoshimoto Suda LWWLLW WIN
Unanimous decision
1968-02-08 Akihide Tamaoka WLLLWW WIN
Unanimous decision
1967-11-30 Chang Soo Yun LLLL WIN
KO
1967-09-21 Chang Soo Moon LLLLLL WIN
Points
1967-07-27 Soo Kang Suh LWWWLL WIN
Points
1967-06-01 Chang Soo Kim L Niigata WIN
KO
1967-04-12 Tetsuya Yamagami LWDLLL Osaka WIN
Points
1967-02-16 Yoshio Nakane WWWWWW WIN
Points
1966-12-08 Toyoharu Mizuta LWWDWD WIN
Points
1966-10-06 Katsutoshi Aoki LLLLWL WIN
Points
1966-07-11 Un Mo Oh LLL Miyagi Sports Center, Sendai WIN
Points
1966-05-26 Dong Chun Lee WLLDLW WIN
Points
1966-04-18 Pat Gonzales LLWWWL Sapporo WIN
Points
1966-03-17 Chung Hwan Chang L Okayama City WIN
Points
1966-02-15 Bonny Boromeo WWLLLL Shizuoka WIN
KO
1966-02-03 Tatsuya Takami LDWLLL WIN
Points
1965-12-30 Toyoharu Mizuta WWWLWW WIN
Points
1965-11-18 Takeo Bando WWLDLD WIN
Points
1965-09-30 Segmundo Macalalad WLLLLD WIN
KO
1965-08-05 Akio Furuki WWLLLL WIN
Points
1965-06-03 Atom Hatai WWWLLL WIN
Points