Eiji Morioka
Encyclopedia
Eiji Morioka was an Olympic boxing bronze medalist from Osaka
, Japan
.
. He won the Japanese amateur boxing tournament four years in a row from 1965-1968. He was chosen as a member of the Japanese Olympic team for the 1968 Summer Olympics
, and won a bronze medal in the bantamweight
division.
He made his professional debut after graduating, but retired after it was discovered that he had suffered a detached retina. His professional record was 6-4-0 (3KOs).
After retiring, he served as the commissioner of the Western Japan Boxing Commission from 1998-2000. He also founded a boxing gym in Kawanishi, Hyogo
. He died from cancer in 2004, at 58 years of age.
His nephew, Toshiyuki Morioka, has created a movie based on his life, which is set to be released in late 2007.
Osaka
is a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshu, a designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the biggest part of Keihanshin area, which is represented by three major cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
.
Biography
Morioka won the inter-high school boxing tournament in his senior year, and entered Kinki UniversityKinki University
, or , is a private non-sectarian and coeducational university based in Higashiosaka, Osaka, Japan with campuses in five other locations: Nara, Nara; Ōsakasayama, Osaka; Uchita, Wakayama; Higashihiroshima, Hiroshima; and Iizuka, Fukuoka....
. He won the Japanese amateur boxing tournament four years in a row from 1965-1968. He was chosen as a member of the Japanese Olympic team for the 1968 Summer Olympics
1968 Summer Olympics
The 1968 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Mexico City, Mexico in October 1968. The 1968 Games were the first Olympic Games hosted by a developing country, and the first Games hosted by a Spanish-speaking country...
, and won a bronze medal in the bantamweight
Bantamweight
Bantamweight is usually a class in boxing for boxers who weigh above 115 pounds and up to 118 pounds . However, in Mixed Martial Arts it is 134-136 pounds . Wrestling also has similar weight classes including bantamweight...
division.
He made his professional debut after graduating, but retired after it was discovered that he had suffered a detached retina. His professional record was 6-4-0 (3KOs).
After retiring, he served as the commissioner of the Western Japan Boxing Commission from 1998-2000. He also founded a boxing gym in Kawanishi, Hyogo
Kawanishi, Hyogo
is a city located in Hyōgo Prefecture in the northwestern part of the Kansai Region of Japan, about 5 km north of Osaka Itami Airport. It is bordered on the west by Inagawa River.-History:...
. He died from cancer in 2004, at 58 years of age.
His nephew, Toshiyuki Morioka, has created a movie based on his life, which is set to be released in late 2007.
Olympic results
- 1964 won the Bantamweight bronze medal at the Mexico City Olympics. Results were:
- Defeated Dominardo Calumarde (Philippines) PTS (4-1)
- Defeated Aldo Cosentino (France) PTS (4-1)
- Defeated Michael Dowling (Ireland) PTS (4-1)
- Lost to Valeri Sokolov (Soviet Union) PTS (0-5)