By Joe Koizumi

“Champion maker” Kenji Yonekura passed away last Thursday (April 20) here in Japan. He was 88. Yonekura, as a boxer, was a household name in 1960’s since he was Japan’s representative in Melbourne Olympic Games in 1956 (his amateur mark was 71-7) and was a two-time world challenger to his credit.

Kenji was an intelligent speedster with fast footwork and great hand speed. Having acquired the vacant Japanese flyweight belt merely in his fifth pro bout, he had an ambitious crack at the world 112-pound belt against Pascual Perez, losing a 15-round decision in Tokyo in 1959. It was from world-rated Filipino Leo Espinosa that Yonekura captured the Orient (then OBF, not OPBF) bantam belt in January 1960.

A legitimate 118-pounder, Yonekura challenged NBA ruler Jose Becerra and demonstrated his best form, losing a hairline split decision (146-142, 141-147 for Becerra and 143-148 for Kenji) over fifteen fast-paced rounds in Tokyo in May 1960.

The skillful speedster Kenji retained his regional belt on four occasions before he finally yielded it to compatriot Katsutoshi Aoki (who had an unsuccessful crack at “Golden Bantam” Eder Jofre only to sink in round three in 1963) on points in his last fight in 1962. After his farewell to the squared circle he opened Yonekura boxing gym in Tokyo next year, and produced many champions (five world champions, 31 Japanese national champs and nine OBF titlists) since 1963.

The world belt-holders that he cultivated as trainer, manager and promoter were Kuniaki Shibata (126, 130; three time champion), Guts Ishimatsu (136; kept the WBC belt five times), Shigeo Nakajima (108), Hideyuki Ohashi (105; WBC and WBA twice separately; now the promoter of Monster Naoya Inoue) and Hiroshi Kawashima (115).

Yonekura, in 1985, scouted amateur star Hideyuki Ohashi, now the handler of Monster Naoya Inoue

Yonekura was a very excellent handler that made Shibata dethrone Vicente Saldivar via thirteenth round TKO in Mexico) and had Ishimatsu upset Ken Buchanan via unanimous decision (even British judge Harry Gibbs tallied in favor of Ishimatsu).

After managing his well-famed Yonekura gym for fifty-four years and closing it in 2017, he entered a sanatorium close to his son (a medical doctor residing in Tochigi prefecture next to Tokyo). Having stayed there with good care for six years, Yonekura calmly passed away with great achievements as boxer and handler. May his soul rest in peace.