Education
Chuo University; Osaka University.
桜井 孝雄
Chuo University; Osaka University.
Sakurai captured the Olympic boxing gold medal at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics in his senior year. His record in the amateurs was 138-13. Olympic results
Defeated Brian Packer (Great Britain) 4-1
Defeated Cassis Aryee (Ghana) 5-0
Defeated Nicolae Puiu (Romania) 5-0
Defeated Washington Rodríguez (Uruguay) 5-0
Defeated Chung Shin-Cho (South of Korea) Royal Society of Chemistry
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.
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.
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 Koichi Wajima"s "Frog Jump" punch under the guidance of Hitoshi Misako who is the president of Misako Boxing Gym where he trained during his career as a boxer.
Sakurai died of esophageal cancer in Tokyo at dawn on January 10, 2012, the birthday of Hitoshi Misako.