is a Japanese boxer in the flyweight (112 lb/50 kg) division and a former WBA flyweight champion.

Sakata was the premier boxer in the Kyoei boxing gym before the arrival of Kōki Kameda in 2005. He stayed out of the limelight for most of his career, even being used as Kameda's sparring partner, but finally won a world title in 2007, defeating Lorenzo Parra for the vacant WBA Flyweight title.

Biography

Early career Sakata began boxing when he joined his school's amateur boxing team in his first year in high school. He quit after only a couple months, but returned to boxing in his senior year, when he entered a local boxing gym, run by the father of former WBA Middlweight champion Shinji Takehara. He moved to Tokyo during summer vacation, and entered the Kyoei boxing gym to begin serious training.

Professional career Sakata won his debut fight by 3rd-round TKO in 1998. He won the Japanese Flyweight title in 2001, and defended the title three times before losing by 10-round decision to Trash Nakanuma in 2002. He fought Nakanuma again in April, 2003, and won by decision, regaining his title. He defended the title two more times before returning it.

On June 4, 2004, Sakata fought Lorenzo Parra for the WBA Flyweight title at the Ariake Coliseum in Tokyo, Japan, but lost by 12-round decision. He fought Parra again in September of the same year, but lost by decision again.

He marked five straight wins after his losses against Parra, and fought Roberto Vasquez in Paris, France, for the WBA Flyweight interim title on December 2, 2006. He suffered a knockdown in the 5th round, but fought back hard in the second half, and Vasquez barely managed to keep his title with a 2-1 split decision.

World champion On March 9, 2007, Sakata fought WBA Flyweight champion Lorenzo Parra for the third time, and became the champion by TKO in the 3rd round. This was Sakata's first win out of four world title matches. The day before the fight, Parra could not make the 112 lb weight limit. He tried again two hours later, but was still 4 pounds overweight. As a consequence, Parra was stripped of the title and fined 35% of his fight money. The WBA decided to hold the title match with a bantamweight limit (118 lb/53 kg), and Parra was introduced as the former champion for the fight.

Sakata has since then defended his title four times. Most recently, he retained it with a unanimous decision win over Hiroyuki Hisataka on July 30, 2008. On his fifth defense however, he was dismantled in two rounds by Denkaosan Kaovichit of Thailand on December 31, 2008.

Attempt to regain crown Sakata received an opportunity to take back the WBA 112-lb title on September 25, 2010. There, he faced Daiki Kameda who won the title from Kaovichit in two attempts. Unfortunately for Sakata, Kameda won the bout on all score cards.

Retirement On January 13, 2011, he announced his retirement from the ring.

Professional boxing record

ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes44LossDaiki KamedaUD1225 Sep 201043Win36–5–2Erick Diaz SiregarKO1 (10), 20 Feb 201042Win35–5–2Decky PutraKO2 (10), 21 Sep 200941Win34–5–2Jeon Jin-manUD1014 Jun 200940Loss33–5–2Denkaosan KaovichitKO2 (12), 31 Dec 200839Win33–4–2Hiroyuki KudakaUD1230 Jul 200838Win32–4–2Shingo YamaguchiUD1229 Mar 200837Draw31–4–2Denkaosan KaovichitSD124 Nov 200736Win31–4–1Roberto VásquezUD121 Jul 200135Win30–4–1Lorenzo ParraTKO3 (12), 19 Mar 200734Loss29–4–1Roberto VásquezSD122 Dec 200633Win29–3–1Son Kyung-jinTKO5 (10), 18 Sep 200632Win28–3–1Bae Ki-sukTKO5 (10), 17 Jul 200631Win27–3–1Kenji YoshidaTD6 (10), 15 May 200630Win26–3–1Hideyoshi IhaTKO5 (10), 20 Mar 200629Win25–3–1Hiroyasu HasebeTKO6 (10), 19 Dec 200528Loss24–3–1Lorenzo ParraMD1219 Sep 200527Win24–2–1Takuro KodamaUD1018 Jul 200526Win23–2–1Korngthranee SoonkilarnoinaiKO1 (10), 18 Apr 200525Loss22–2–1Lorenzo ParraMD124 Jun 200424Win22–1–1Katsunori ItoUD1015 Dec 200323Win21–1–1Kazuo OkadaRTD7 (10), 15 Sep 200322Win20–1–1Trash NakanumaUD105 Apr 200321Win19–1–1Kim Jin-hoKO2 (10), 18 Nov 200220Win18–1–1Koki TanakaTD7 (10), 15 Jul 200219Loss17–1–1Trash NakanumaMD1030 Apr 200218Win17–0–1Mizuo NakataUD1021 Jan 200217Win16–0–1Shiro YahiroTKO9 (10), 15 Oct 200116Draw15–0–1Daisuke NaitoMD1016 Jul 200115Win15–0Masaki KawabataUD109 Apr 200114Win14–0Kim Sung-hoTKO3 (10), 18 Dec 200013Win13–0Jun MagsipocKO4 (10), 16 Oct 200012Win12–0Ryuji KubotaUD1021 Aug 200011Win11–0Kid PayesKO3 (10), 19 Jun 200010Win10–0Jose ClasidaUD817 Apr 20009Win9–0Leo RamirezTKO4 (8), 21 Feb 20008Win8–0Masayuki ArinagaUD618 Dec 19997Win7–0Toshio HagimotoUD66 Nov 19996Win6–0Takeyuki KojimaUD427 Sep 19995Win5–0Tetsuhiko NoguchiTKO3 (4), 30 Jul 19994Win4–0Munefumi OmuraUD629 Jun 19993Win3–0Hiroshi KuroiwaMD417 May 19992Win2–0Shoji OkudaUD418 Jan 19991Win1–0Akinori FukudaTKO3 (4), 5 Dec 1998

See also List of WBA world champions List of flyweight boxing champions List of Japanese boxing world champions Boxing in Japan

References

External links

Takefumi Sakata official blog (Japanese)