Kiyoshi Tanabe
Kiyoshi Tanabe (田辺 清, born October 10, 1940) is a retired Japanese boxer who won a bronze medal at the 1960 Olympics.[1]
| 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
| |||||||||||||||||
.svg.png){kind=icon}
.svg.png){kind=icon}
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.