Takefumi Sakata

Infobox Boxer


name=Takefumi Sakata
realname=Takefumi Sakata
nickname=
weight=Flyweight
height=5 ft. 4 in. (162 cm.)
nationality=Flagicon|JPN Japanese
birth_date=Birth date and age|1980|1|29|mf=y
birth_place=Aki District, Hiroshima, Japan
death_date|=
death_place|=
style=Orthodox
total=39
wins=33
losses=4
draws=2
no contests=0
KO=15|

Takefumi Sakata (坂田 健史 born January 29, 1980 in Aki District, Hiroshima Prefecture) is a Japanese boxer in the flyweight (112 lb/50 kg) division and is the current WBA flyweight champion.

Sakata was the premier boxer in the Kyoei boxing gym before the arrival of Koki Kameda in 2005. He stayed out of the limelight for most of his career, even being used as Kameda's sparring partner, but finally won a world title in 2007, defeating Lorenzo Parra for the vacant WBA Flyweight title.

Biography

Early career

Sakata began boxing when he joined his school's amateur boxing team in his first year in high school. He quit after only a couple months, but returned to boxing in his senior year, when he entered a local boxing gym, run by the father of former WBA Middlweight champion Shinji Takehara. He moved to Tokyo during summer vacation, and entered the Kyoei boxing gym to begin serious training.

Professional career

Sakata won his debut fight by 3rd round TKO in 1998. He won the Japanese Flyweight title in 2001, and defended the title three times before losing by 10 round decision to Trash Nakamura in 2002. He fought Nakanuma again in April, 2003, and won by decision, regaining his title. He defended the title two more times before returning it.

On June 4, 2004, Sakata fought Lorenzo Parra for the WBA Flyweight title at the Ariake Coliseum in Tokyo, Japan, but lost by 12 round decision. He fought Parra again in September of the same year, but lost by decision again.

He marked five straight wins after his losses against Parra, and fought Roberto Vasquez in Paris, France, for the WBA Flyweight interim title on December 2, 2006. He suffered a knockdown in the 5th round, but fought back hard in the second half, and Vasquez barely managed to keep his title with a 2-1 split decision.

World champion

On March 9, 2007, Sakata fought WBA Flyweight champion Lorenzo Parra for the third time, and became the champion by TKO in the 3rd round. This was Sakata's first win out of four world title matches. The day before the fight, Parra couldn't make the 112 lb weight limit. He tried again two hours later, but was still 4 pounds overweight. As a consequence, Parra was stripped of the title and fined 35% of his fight money. The WBA decided to hold the title match with a bantamweight limit (118 lb/53 kg), and Parra was introduced as the former champion for the fight.

Sakata has since then defended his title four times. Most recently, he retained it with a unanimous decision win over Hiroyuki Hisataka on July 30 2008.

See also

* List of WBA world champions
* List of current world boxing champions

External links

*
* [http://blog.livedoor.jp/burning_fist/ Takefumi Sakata official blog (Japanese)]

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