| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | Japanese:米倉 健治[1] (1934-05-25)25 May 1934 Nōgata, Fukuoka, Empire of Japan[2] |
| Died | 20 April 2023(2023-04-20) (aged 88) |
| Weight | |
| Boxing career | |
| Stance | Orthodox |
| Boxing record | |
| Total fights | 24 |
| Wins | 13 |
| Win by KO | 1 |
| Losses | 10 |
| Draws | 1 |
Kenji Yonekura (Japanese:米倉 健司,Hepburn:Yonekura Kenji; 25 May 1934 – 20 April 2023) was a Japanese boxer who competed at the1956 Melbourne Olympic Games in theflyweight division, and was a two-time world title challenger in the flyweight andbantamweight divisions. He later served as the president of Yonekura Boxing Gym.
Yonekura saw theUnited States Armed Forces' boxing fights in theItazuke Air Base, which was his first encounter with boxing. Yonekura began boxing at the age of a high school student. He was training and sparring withYoshio Shirai under Alvin Rober Cahn's guidance.[3]
Yonekura won the All-Japan Amateur Boxing Championships in the flyweight division in 1956,[4] and represented Japan at the1956 Summer Olympics inMelbourne, while studying atMeiji University.[1] He won on points over Phachon Muangson in the second round match, and lost on points toRené Libeer in the quarterfinals. He also participated in theSeattle Golden Gloves in 1957,[2] and compiled an amateur record of 71–7 (19 KOs) before turning professional.[5]
Yonekura made his professional debut under his real name Kenji Yonekura, written as 米倉 健治, in an eight-round bout in June 1958.[6] Before his official debut, he made an exhibition match against the Japanese flyweight champion Sadao Yaoita as a welcome bout for theNBA's public relations manager. He was awarded Japan's Fight of the Year and Technical Award in his debut year. Hisring name was changed into 米倉 健志, pronounced the same, during his professional career.[1] He captured the vacant Japanese flyweight title in January 1959.[7]
His first world title shot againstPascual Pérez in theflyweight division, which was postponed three days due to rain,[8] ended in a unanimous decision loss after being knocked down in the second round, in front of 9,000 spectators at theTokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium in August 1959.[9] However, as Yonekura had been highly expected to be the winner of it as a former Olympian,[10] its audience rating was 88.0 percent.[11] Yonekura was featured on the front covers of not only boxing-related periodical s such as (Japan's)Boxing Gazette,Puroresu & Boxing, andWeekly Sports: Fight, but also various magazines such asWeekly Shōnen Magazine,Weekly Yomiuri Sports,Weekly Sankei Sports, andOlympic Gahō, as a handsomesuperstar.[12]
Yonekura moved up in weight division to capture theOPBFbantamweight title in January 1960. In his second world title shot in the bantamweight division in May of that year, he lost toJosé Becerra via asplit decision[13] while being watched by 17,000 spectators at theKorakuen Baseball Stadium.[14][15] From 1960 through 1961, he made an expedition toMexico and fought four times inTijuana andMexico City, but was defeated in all those fights.[15] After defending the OPBF title four times, he lost on points in his fifth defense in October 1962, and hung up his gloves.[7]
After his retirement as a boxer, he opened Yonekura Boxing Gym inTokyo in 1963, and acted as its president, promoter, manager, and trainer.[15][16] He also served as the president of Japan Pro Boxing Association (JPBA) for three years from 1986 to 1989.[4][15] Yonekura Boxing Gym has so far brought up fifty champions including five world champions i.e.Kuniaki Shibata,Guts Ishimatsu,Shigeo Nakajima,Hideyuki Ohashi, andHiroshi Kawashima.[4] The gym has provided a boxing television programExcite Boxing under the auspices of theTV Asahi on sky-A sports+ etc.[17] In March 1995, Yonekura received the Distinguished Service Award in Sports from theeducation minister at the time,Kaoru Yosano.[15][18]
Yonekura died on 20 April 2023, at the age of 88.[19]
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
