Kiyoshi Tanabe

Kiyoshi Tanabe (田辺 清, born October 10, 1940 in Aomori City, Japan) is a former professional boxer, and olympic boxing bronze medalist.

Biography

Tanabe won the bronze medal at the 1960 Summer Olympics, held in Rome, becoming the first Japanese boxer to win an olympic medal. His amateur record was 115-5 (30RSC). He made his debut three years later, and easily won the Japanese flyweight title in 1965, which he defended twice before vacating. In February, 1967, he fought WBA flyweight champion Horacio Enrique Accavallo in a non-title match, and won by 6th round TKO.

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. His professional record was 21-0-1 (5KOs).

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