Kiyoshi Tanabe

Kiyoshi Tanabe
Tanabe (left) at the 1960 Olympics
Statistics
Weight(s)	Flyweight
Height	159 cm (5 ft 3 in)
Born	October 10, 1940 Aomori City, Japan
Stance	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	22
Wins	21
Wins by KO	5
Losses	0
Draws	1
Medal record Representing  Japan Olympic Games 1960 Rome Flyweight Asian Games 1962 Jakarta Bantamweight

Kiyoshi Tanabe (田辺 清, born October 10, 1940) is a retired Japanese boxer who won a bronze medal at the 1960 Olympics.^[1]

Biography

As an amateur Tanabe won a bronze medal at the 1960 Olympics, becoming the first Japanese boxer to win an Olympic medal. His amateur record was 115-5 (30RSC). He made his professional debut in 1963, and won the Japanese flyweight title in 1965, which he defended twice before vacating. In February 1967, he fought WBA & WBC flyweight champion Horacio Accavallo in a non-title match, and won by 6th-round TKO.^[2]

Tanabe was scheduled to get his first world title shot in July 1967, and expectations heightened around the talented fighter. However, it was discovered that he had suffered a detached retina in his right eye, which forced him into retirement. He had surgery on his right eye, but lost his vision two years later.

References