Takeshi Fuji

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Takeshi Fuji (藤猛, born Paul Takeshi Fujii on July 6, 1940) is a Hawaiian-born Japanese former professional boxer.[1] He is a former Undisputed, WBA and WBC super lightweight (light welterweight) champion.

Early life and education

Born in 1940, Paul Fujii was a third-generation Japanese-Hawaiian.[1] He was raised in the Territory of Hawaii, graduated from Farrington High School, and served in the United States Marine Corps.[2]

Amateur career

During his amateur boxing career, Fujii had a record of 116 wins and 16 losses over a total of 132 fights.[1]

Professional career

Fujii started boxing professionally in April 1964.[1] He traveled to Japan, where he became known as Fuji Takeshi, and joined the boxing gym run by former professional wrestler Rikidōzan. Though he fought in Japan for most of his career, he could not speak Japanese. His trainer, Eddie Townsend, was also a Japanese-American. He made his professional debut in April, 1964 with a 2nd-round KO.

In June, 1965, Fuji challenged the Japanese super lightweight title, and won by KO only 45 seconds into the first round. This was his 11th professional fight, and he defended the title once before returning it. Fuji won the OPBF light welterweight title in 1966.

World title

In April 1967, Fujii challenged Lineal, WBA and WBC light welterweight champion Sandro Lopopolo. Fujii won in an upset victory by KO in the second round to become the new world champion.[3][1] The match was declared a knockout victory for Fujii after he had knocked down Lopopolo three times in the same round, according to pre-agreed rules.[4] In October 1967, Sports Illustrated noted that at the time, Fujii was one of only two world champions recognized by the WBA who was a native of the United States; the other nine were from other countries.[5]

Fujii successfully defended his world junior welterweight title in November 1967, after knocking out Willy Quatuor of West Germany.[6] In December, 1968, he faced Nicolino Locche to defend his WBA light welterweight title, but gave up in the 10th round.[1]

Later career and legacy

In June, 1970, Fujii was scheduled to face former world champion Eddie Perkins in a non-title match, but suddenly withdrew from the fight claiming to have an injury. The Japan Boxing Commission penalized Fujii with a suspension, and he retired shortly afterwards. His record was 34-3-1 (29KOs).

In 1999, Fujii was inducted into the Hawaii Sports Hall of Fame.[7] Fujii's record as the undisputed world champion in the 140-pound (63.5 kg) class in 1968 was not repeated until 2001, when Russian Australian Kostya Tszyu claimed the IBF, WBA, and WBC titles.[8]

Professional boxing record

Template:BoxingRecordSummary

No. Result Record Opponent Type Round, time Date Location Notes
38 Win 34–3–1 Benito Juarez KO 3 (10) 1970-05-03 JapanScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
37 Win 33–3–1 Suk Kyu Park KO 3 (10) 1970-03-05 JapanScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
36 Template:DrawDraw 32–3–1 Byung Mo Lim PTS 10 (10) 1969-09-25 Sumpu Arena, Shizuoka, JapanScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
35 Win 32–3 Manfredo Alipala KO 10 (10) 1969-07-24 JapanScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
34 Loss 31–3 Nicolino Locche RTD 10 (15) 1968-12-12 Kuramae Kokugikan, Tokyo, JapanScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". Lost WBA & The Ring light welterweight titlesScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
33 Win 31–2 Roberto Cruz KO 2 (10) 1968-04-02 Nakajima Sports Center, Sapporo, JapanScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
32 Win 30–2 Johnny Williams KO 2 (10) 1968-02-15 JapanScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
31 Win 29–2 Sadao Takagi KO 2 (10) 1967-12-21 JapanScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
30 Win 28–2 Willi Quatuor KO 4 (15) 1967-11-16 Kuramae Kokugikan, Tokyo, JapanScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". Retained WBA, WBC & The Ring light welterweight titlesScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
29 Win 27–2 Fel Pedranza KO 2 (10) 1967-08-29 Honolulu International Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
28 Win 26–2 Sandro Lopopolo KO 2 (15) 1967-04-30 Kuramae Kokugikan, Tokyo, JapanScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". Won WBA, WBC & The Ring light welterweight titlesScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
27 Win 25–2 Carl Peñalosa KO 2 (12) 1967-02-13 JapanScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". Retained OPBF light welterweight titleScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
26 Win 24–2 Jesse Cortez KO 3 (10) 1967-01-05 JapanScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
25 Win 23–2 Kid Bassey II UD 10 (10) 1966-12-06 Honolulu International Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
24 Win 22–2 Luis Molina RTD 3 (10) 1966-11-15 Honolulu International Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
23 Win 21–2 Larry Flaviano KO 2 (10) 1966-11-03 JapanScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
22 Win 20–2 Rocky Alarde KO 3 (12) 1966-09-29 JapanScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". Won OPBF light welterweight titleScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
21 Win 19–2 Shigeru Ogiwara KO 2 (10) 1966-08-25 Kitakyushu, JapanScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". Retained Japanese light welterweight titleScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
20 Win 18–2 Byung Oh Chang KO 2 (10) 1966-07-28 Prefectural Gymnasium, Yamagata City, JapanScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
19 Win 17–2 Alfredo Fuentes TKO 4 (10) 1966-06-27 Akita City, JapanScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
18 Loss 16–2 Fel Pedranza KO 6 (10) 1966-06-05 Prefectural Gymnasium, Osaka, JapanScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
17 Win 16–1 Rudy Gonzalez PTS 10 (10) 1966-05-05 JapanScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
16 Win 15–1 Ador Plaza KO 4 (10) 1966-03-21 JapanScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
15 Win 14–1 Kim Deuk-bong KO 2 (10) 1966-01-20 JapanScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
14 Loss 13–1 Johnny Santos UD 10 (10) 1965-11-16 Civic Auditorium, Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
13 Win 13–0 Willie Castillo TKO 7 (10) 1965-11-02 Honolulu International Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
12 Win 12–0 Yuji Tsukuba KO 8 (10) 1965-09-09 JapanScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
11 Win 11–0 Nakao Sasazaki KO 1 (10) 1965-06-18 JapanScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". Won vacant Japanese light welterweight titleScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
10 Win 10–0 Neto Villareal PTS 8 (8) 1965-04-06 Honolulu International Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
9 Win 9–0 Leopoldo Corona UD 10 (10) 1965-03-09 Civic Auditorium, Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
8 Win 8–0 Arnie Cota Robles TKO 8 (8) 1965-02-23 Civic Auditorium, Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
7 Win 7–0 Manuel Lugo KO 3 (10) 1965-02-16 Civic Auditorium, Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
6 Win 6–0 Bernie Magallanes TKO 3 (8) 1965-01-26 Civic Auditorium, Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
5 Win 5–0 Noriyasu Yoshimura KO 2 (8) 1964-10-03 JapanScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
4 Win 4–0 Fujio Mikami TKO 4 (8) 1964-07-18 JapanScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
3 Win 3–0 Akio Matsunaga KO 3 (6) 1964-06-30 JapanScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
2 Win 2–0 Kunio Yoshida PTS 6 (6) 1964-05-26 JapanScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
1 Win 1–0 Minoru Goto KO 2 (6) 1964-04-14 JapanScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".

Titles in boxing

Major world titles

The Ring magazine titles

Regional/International titles

Undisputed titles

Film

Paul Fujii starred in a feature-length film playing himself called The Story of Paul Fujii, which was released in 1968.[9]

Personal life

After retiring as a professional boxer, Fujii returned to Hawaii.[10] In 1996, he moved back to Japan, briefly serving as chairman of the Iwaki Kyōei Gym.[10] He went on to teach boxing mainly to children in Mito, Ibaraki, until the gym went bankrupt in June 2015.[10]

In August 2015, Fujii registered as a special trainer at a gym in Ōta, Tokyo.[10] At the time, his wife and two of his children were living in Hawaii, while his eldest son's family lived in Japan.[10]

See also

References

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External links

Sporting positions

Template:S-text

Vacant
Title last held by
Koji Okano 		Japanese light welterweight champion
June 18, 1965 – 1967
Vacated Template:S-ttl/check 		Vacant
Title next held by
Shigeru Ogiwara
Preceded byTemplate:S-bef/check OPBF light welterweight champion
September 29, 1966 – 1967
Vacated Template:S-ttl/check 		Vacant
Title next held by
Larry Flaviano

Template:S-text

Preceded byTemplate:S-bef/check WBA light welterweight champion
April 30, 1967 – December 12, 1968 Template:S-ttl/check 		Template:S-aft/check Succeeded by
WBC light welterweight champion
April 30, 1967 – November 14, 1968
Stripped Template:S-ttl/check 		Vacant
Title next held by
Pedro Adigue
The Ring light welterweight champion
April 30, 1967 – December 12, 1968 Template:S-ttl/check 		Template:S-aft/check Succeeded by
Undisputed light welterweight champion
April 30, 1967 – November 14, 1968
Titles fragmented Template:S-ttl/check 		Vacant
Title next held by
Kostya Tszyu

Template:Authority control

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