Katsuyoshi Takayama Pushed Accavallo
Katsuyoshi Takayama challenged Horacio Accavallo for the vacant world flyweight championship at Tokyo’s Nippon Budokan on March 1, 1966. Their fifteen-round contest ended in a split-decision victory for the Argentine southpaw.
Career highlights
Takayama began his professional career in 1962 with a defeat, then put together a thirty-five-fight unbeaten run. His results during that stretch included wins over Speedy Hayase, Seisaku Saito and Salvatore Burruni, helping him reach the world-title opportunity.
Against Accavallo, Takayama attacked from the opening bell and established an early lead, according to contemporary United Press International coverage. Accavallo rallied, with two officials favoring him and the third scoring for Takayama.
After the championship challenge
Takayama continued competing through the 1960s. Later victories included another win over Hayase in 1967 and successes against Leo Calderon and Eiji Morioka in 1969. His career record finished at 45 wins, eleven losses and six draws, with twelve knockout victories.
The official scores against Accavallo were 73–69 and 74–66 for the visiting Argentine, with the Japanese third official favoring Takayama 71–70. Both the WBA and WBC recognized the winner as champion. Takayama remained in the organizations’ flyweight rankings later that year, appearing fifth in the August WBC list and fourth in the WBA list despite the championship setback.
Sources
- BoxRec / contemporary UPI report: Accavallo–Takayama title fight
- Asian Boxing: Takayama’s unbeaten run and later career
