若い皆さん、故・櫻井孝夫氏についてです。
Sakurai Takao (桜井 孝雄) (September 25, 1941 – January 10, 2012) was a professional boxer who won the gold medal at the 1964 Summer Olympics.
Born in Sawara, Chiba, Sakurai began boxing in high school, keeping his training secret to his parents. Although there was no trainer in his high school, Sakurai won the Japan's inter-high school championship in the bantamweight division in 1960. Then he entered Chuo University, and won the All-Japan Amateur Boxing Championships in the bantamweight division in 1963. Sakurai captured the Olympic boxing gold medal at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics in his senior year. In the finals, he knocked down his opponent 3 times in 2 rounds, capturing the win by RSC, and becoming the only Japanese boxer ever to win Olympic gold. His record in the amateurs was 138-13.
Sakurai's feat in the Olympics heightened hopes for his professional career, and he made his professional debut from Misako Boxing Gym in March, 1965. He won 22 straight fights, but was unable to make a full transition from his cautious, amateur boxing style to a more aggressive, professional style. He could win only 4 fights by knockout out of his 32 professional fights.
Sakurai challenged Lionel Rose for the world bantamweight title on July 2, 1968. He got a knockdown in the 2nd round, but ended up losing by decision in 15 rounds. He suffered the first knockout loss of his career against Rubén Olivares in May, 1969 in a non-title match. Later that year, he won the OPBF bantamweight title, which he defended twice before announcing his retirement in 1970. His professional record was 30-2-0 (4KOs), and he was the top-ranked world bantamweight contender when he retired.
Sakurai founded his own boxing gym One Two Sports Club, in Tsukiji, Chūō, Tokyo, and worked as a trainer there. He was the first man to practice Wajima Koichi's "Frog Jump" punch under the guidance of Misako Hitoshi who is the president of Misako Boxing Gym where he trained during his career as a boxer. His eldest son has also had a successful amateur boxing career, winning a national tournament in the featherweight division.
Sakurai died of esophageal cancer in Tokyo at dawn on January 10, 2012, the birthday of Hitoshi Misako.
Sakurai Takao (jap., 25. syyskuuta 1941 Sawara, Chiban prefektuuri – 10. tammikuuta 2012 Tokio) oli japanilainen nyrkkeilijä ja olympiavoittaja.
Sakurai voitti 54 kilogramman painoluokassa olympiakultaa Tokiossa 1964. Loppuottelussa hän tyrmäsi eteläkorealaisen Jeong Sin-jon toisessa erässä ajassa 1.18.
Ammattilaisnyrkkeilijänä Sakurai voitti otteluistaan 30 ja hävisi kaksi. Hän kuoli ruokatorven syöpään 70-vuotiaana 10. tammikuuta 2012.
故・桜井 孝雄（1941年9月25日 - 2012年1月10日）氏は、千葉県佐原市（現・香取市）出身の日本の元プロボクサーで1964年の東京オリンピックのバンタム級金メダリストです。プロではOBF東洋バンタム級王座を獲得しています。
卓越したボクシング・センスと技術を持ち、東京五輪の金メダリストとして鳴り物入りでプロ入りしたものの、ボクシングに対しクール過ぎる性格が災いし「安全運転」と称された消極的ボクシングを展開したため*世界王座に手が届くことはありませんでした。当時のバンタム級がファイティング原田を始めとする強豪揃いであったことも影響したのかもしれません。
昨日村田諒太がロンドン・オリンピックのミドル級で金メダルを獲得するまで、48年もの間、日本のボクシングの金メダリストは、櫻井氏しかおらず、アマチュアボクシング界で果たした功績は非常に大きなものでした。
*1968年7月2日、日本武道館でライオネル・ローズ（オーストラリア）の持つ世界バンタム級王座に挑戦しましたが判定負けしてしまいました。以下、その世界戦のビデオを掲載します。
