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The Boxing World mourns Takao Sakurai | 12.01.2012 | The boxing legend and Japanese national hero Takao Sakurai passed away after losing his battle against cancer on Monday 10 January at the age of 70, leaving behind him a legacy that will live long in the memories.
"It is with great sadness that I learnt of the passing of one of the sport's true gentlemen, Takao Sakurai. Throughout his career, he proved to be not only a wonderful athlete but a dedicated coach as well. Still today, he remains his nations' only boxer to ever win an Olympic gold medal. His achievements have inspired generations of Asian fighters and his passing is a big loss to the entire boxing family", declared Dr. Ching-Kuo Wu, AIBA President.
Born in 1941 during the World War II in Sawara Chiba, Sakurai began boxing in high-school despite the fact there was no one to coach him. He kept his training sessions secret from his parents until 1960 when he won the Bantamweight competition at the annual Japanese Inter-High School Championships.
Following his first national success, he enrolled at the Chuo University and representing them he claimed a gold medal at the All-Japan Amateur Boxing Championships. That victory resulted in him participating in the 1964 Summer Olympic Games in front of his family and friends in Tokyo.
Sakurai was in irresistible form during those Olympics as four heroic battles saw him advance to the Bantamweight final. For the gold, he emphatically knocked down his opponent Chung Shin Cho of South Korea three times within the first two rounds with the referee stepping to stop the contest.
He amassed 151 amateur fights during a glittering career and of those 138 were winning contests. After retiring he worked as a trainer and founded his own boxing gym in Tsukuji, Chuo, Tokyo, while his eldest son also had a successful boxing career. The Boxing World has lost one of its pioneers and one of the sport's true greats.
Copyright © 2012 AIBA http://www.aiba.org |
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