Keiji Yamaguchi
Japanese boxer
山口圭司
Keiji Yamaguchi (山口圭司 Yamaguchi Keiji, born February 17, 1974) is a former professional boxer from Hakodate, Hokkaido, Japan. Yamaguchi held the WBA light flyweight championship of the world, defeating Panamanian champion Carlos Murillo in 1996 via a 12th-round split decision. He became Japan's 37th world champion.
After winning the world championship, he defended the title only once, defeating his old rival Carlos Murillo in mid-1996 by unanimous decision after twelve rounds. Later that year, in a surprising upset, he lost the title by TKO in just the second round to Thai challenger Pichit Chor Siriwat (formerly known as Pichitnoi Sitbangprachan) in a bout at Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium. During the fight, he ducked to avoid a left punch, but as he raised his head, he was caught cleanly by a devastating right hook from Chor Siriwat. He went down hard, and although he managed to get back on his feet, he was clearly unfit to continue. The referee then stepped in and stopped the fight.
Awards and honours
- WBA World Light Flyweight Champion
External links
Facts from Wikidata Q2491607 (CC0); quoted introduction from English Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Data retrieved 2026-10-22.
Data: Wikidata (CC0 1.0); Wikipedia (English) (CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.