Takeshi Fuji


Takeshi Fuji is a Hawaiian-born Japanese former professional boxer. He is a former Undisputed, WBA and WBC super lightweight champion.

Early life and education

Born in 1940, Paul Fujii was a third-generation Japanese-Hawaiian. He was raised in the Territory of Hawaii, graduated from Farrington High School, and served in the United States Marine Corps.

Amateur career

During his amateur boxing career, Fujii had a record of 116 wins and 16 losses over a total of 132 fights.

Professional career

Fujii started boxing professionally in April 1964. He traveled to Japan, where he became known as Fuji Takeshi, and joined the boxing gym run by former professional wrestler Rikidōzan. Though he fought in Japan for most of his career, he could not speak Japanese. His trainer, Eddie Townsend, was also a Japanese-American. He made his professional debut in April, 1964 with a 2nd-round KO.
In June, 1965, Fuji challenged the Japanese super lightweight title, and won by KO only 45 seconds into the first round. This was his 11th professional fight, and he defended the title once before returning it. Fuji won the OPBF light welterweight title in 1966.

World title

In April 1967, Fujii challenged Lineal, WBA and WBC light welterweight champion Sandro Lopopolo. Fujii won in an upset victory by KO in the second round to become the new world champion. The match was declared a knockout victory for Fujii after he had knocked down Lopopolo three times in the same round, according to pre-agreed rules. In October 1967, Sports Illustrated noted that at the time, Fujii was one of only two world champions recognized by the WBA who was a native of the United States; the other nine were from other countries.
Fujii successfully defended his world junior welterweight title in November 1967, after knocking out Willy Quatuor of West Germany. In December, 1968, he faced Nicolino Locche to defend his WBA light welterweight title, but gave up in the 10th round.

Later career and legacy

In June, 1970, Fujii was scheduled to face former world champion Eddie Perkins in a non-title match, but suddenly withdrew from the fight claiming to have an injury. The Japan Boxing Commission penalized Fujii with a suspension, and he retired shortly afterwards. His record was 34-3-1.
In 1999, Fujii was inducted into the Hawaii Sports Hall of Fame. Fujii's record as the undisputed world champion in the 140-pound class in 1968 was not repeated until 2001, when Russian Australian Kostya Tszyu claimed the IBF, WBA, and WBC titles.

Professional boxing record

No.ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes
38Win34–3–1Benito JuarezKO3 1970-05-03Japan
37Win33–3–1Suk Kyu ParkKO3 1970-03-05Japan
36Draw32–3–1Byung Mo LimPTS10 1969-09-25Sumpu Arena, Shizuoka, Japan
35Win32–3Manfredo AlipalaKO10 1969-07-24Japan
34Loss31–3Nicolino LoccheRTD10 1968-12-12Kuramae Kokugikan, Tokyo, JapanLost WBA & The Ring light welterweight titles
33Win31–2Roberto CruzKO2 1968-04-02Nakajima Sports Center, Sapporo, Japan
32Win30–2Johnny WilliamsKO2 1968-02-15Japan
31Win29–2Sadao TakagiKO2 1967-12-21Japan
30Win28–2Willi QuatuorKO4 1967-11-16Kuramae Kokugikan, Tokyo, JapanRetained WBA, WBC & The Ring light welterweight titles
29Win27–2Fel PedranzaKO2 1967-08-29Honolulu International Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.
28Win26–2Sandro LopopoloKO2 1967-04-30Kuramae Kokugikan, Tokyo, JapanWon WBA, WBC & The Ring light welterweight titles
27Win25–2Carl PeñalosaKO2 1967-02-13JapanRetained OPBF light welterweight title
26Win24–2Jesse CortezKO3 1967-01-05Japan
25Win23–2Kid Bassey IIUD10 1966-12-06Honolulu International Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.
24Win22–2Luis MolinaRTD3 1966-11-15Honolulu International Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.
23Win21–2Larry FlavianoKO2 1966-11-03Japan
22Win20–2Rocky AlardeKO3 1966-09-29JapanWon OPBF light welterweight title
21Win19–2Shigeru OgiwaraKO2 1966-08-25Kitakyushu, JapanRetained Japanese light welterweight title
20Win18–2Byung Oh ChangKO2 1966-07-28Prefectural Gymnasium, Yamagata City, Japan
19Win17–2Alfredo FuentesTKO4 1966-06-27Akita City, Japan
18Loss16–2Fel PedranzaKO6 1966-06-05Prefectural Gymnasium, Osaka, Japan
17Win16–1Rudy GonzalezPTS10 1966-05-05Japan
16Win15–1Ador PlazaKO4 1966-03-21Japan
15Win14–1Kim Deuk-bongKO2 1966-01-20Japan
14Loss13–1Johnny SantosUD10 1965-11-16Civic Auditorium, Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.
13Win13–0Willie CastilloTKO7 1965-11-02Honolulu International Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.
12Win12–0Yuji TsukubaKO8 1965-09-09Japan
11Win11–0Nakao SasazakiKO1 1965-06-18JapanWon vacant Japanese light welterweight title
10Win10–0Neto VillarealPTS8 1965-04-06Honolulu International Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.
9Win9–0Leopoldo CoronaUD10 1965-03-09Civic Auditorium, Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.
8Win8–0Arnie Cota RoblesTKO8 1965-02-23Civic Auditorium, Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.
7Win7–0Manuel LugoKO3 1965-02-16Civic Auditorium, Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.
6Win6–0Bernie MagallanesTKO3 1965-01-26Civic Auditorium, Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.
5Win5–0Noriyasu YoshimuraKO2 1964-10-03Japan
4Win4–0Fujio MikamiTKO4 1964-07-18Japan
3Win3–0Akio MatsunagaKO3 1964-06-30Japan
2Win2–0Kunio YoshidaPTS6 1964-05-26Japan
1Win1–0Minoru GotoKO2 1964-04-14Japan

Titles in boxing

Major world titles

''The Ring'' magazine titles

Regional/International titles

Undisputed titles

Film

Paul Fujii starred in a feature-length film playing himself called The Story of Paul Fujii, which was released in 1968.

Personal life

After retiring as a professional boxer, Fujii returned to Hawaii. In 1996, he moved back to Japan, briefly serving as chairman of the Iwaki Kyōei Gym. He went on to teach boxing mainly to children in Mito, Ibaraki, until the gym went bankrupt in June 2015.
In August 2015, Fujii registered as a special trainer at a gym in Ōta, Tokyo. At the time, his wife and two of his children were living in Hawaii, while his eldest son's family lived in Japan.