Cheyenne Yamamoto passes, aged 65
Over the weekend it was announced that former 2-time Japanese Lightweight champion Cheyenne Yamamoto (22-8-5, 15), born Koji Yamamoto, had passed away on Saturday at the age of 65 after a battle with cancer.
Born in Fukaura, Nishitsugaru District, Aomori Prefecture, Yamamoto began his career in 1979, aged 19 and was quickly put in the ring with accomplished fighters, often being the sparring partner of Royal Kobayashi, a former world champion who was coming to the end of his career. He won his debut but struggled to build on that win, going 1-2-3 in his first 6 bouts. As time went on however he developed his boxing, learned from experience and began to reel off wins moving his record to 9-3-4 after 16 fights. That landed him a show at Japanese Lightweight champion Joken Narita, who retained his title with a 10 round win over Yamamoto. That loss just solidified him as a top domestic contender and just over 13 months later he would overcome Fujio Ozaki to claim the Japanese Lightweight title for the first time. Notably the bout with Narita was only his second since dropping “Koji” from his ring name, and replacing it with Cheyenne, which he would become better known as.
Sadly Yamamoto's first reign was short lived, as he lost the title back to Ozaki just 3 months later and then came up heartbreakingly short in 1984, when he lost to Hikaru Tomonari in a bout with scores of 96-99, 97-99 and 98-99. The close loss to Tomonari seemed to really fire up Yamamoto, who had fallen to 15-7-5. Just 13 months after their nail biting bout of 1984 the two would fight again, and this time the judges weren't needed, with Yamamoto stopping Tomonari in 4 rounds to begin his second reign, and become only the 4th man at the time to recapture the Japanese Lightweight title.
Yamamoto’s second reign turned out to be a much more notable than his first, with 5 successful defenses. The most notable of those included a draw against Eiji Okita, in his first defence, a TKO9 win over Junichi Misawa, which had seen Yamamoto in real trouble before Misawa was stopped from an injured eye.
Sadly in 1987 Yamamoto would lose the title, suffering a 9th round TKO loss to the heavy handed Iwao Otomo, who dropped Yamamoto numerous times to force a TKO, and end Yamamoto's career at the age of 27. It would be the only time he would lose by TKO, and would end an unbeaten streak of 8 bouts, which had seen Yamamoto go 7-0-1 (7)
Following his in ring career Yamamoto remained close to boxing. He made a mark as a trainer at the Koichi Wajima Gym, where he served as the main trainer for Hironari Ohshima. He later opened the Cheyenne Yamamoto Gym, where he served as the chairman and as a trainer, before later becoming the chairman of the Reboot Gym.
In 2017 he was hospitalised following a traffic accident, though recovered well and remained a popular figure in Japanese boxing circles.
Sources in Japan have reported that Yamamoto was feeling ill about a month ago, and that it was revealed by a close friend of his that he had been suffering from pancreatic cancer.
Born in Fukaura, Nishitsugaru District, Aomori Prefecture, Yamamoto began his career in 1979, aged 19 and was quickly put in the ring with accomplished fighters, often being the sparring partner of Royal Kobayashi, a former world champion who was coming to the end of his career. He won his debut but struggled to build on that win, going 1-2-3 in his first 6 bouts. As time went on however he developed his boxing, learned from experience and began to reel off wins moving his record to 9-3-4 after 16 fights. That landed him a show at Japanese Lightweight champion Joken Narita, who retained his title with a 10 round win over Yamamoto. That loss just solidified him as a top domestic contender and just over 13 months later he would overcome Fujio Ozaki to claim the Japanese Lightweight title for the first time. Notably the bout with Narita was only his second since dropping “Koji” from his ring name, and replacing it with Cheyenne, which he would become better known as.
Sadly Yamamoto's first reign was short lived, as he lost the title back to Ozaki just 3 months later and then came up heartbreakingly short in 1984, when he lost to Hikaru Tomonari in a bout with scores of 96-99, 97-99 and 98-99. The close loss to Tomonari seemed to really fire up Yamamoto, who had fallen to 15-7-5. Just 13 months after their nail biting bout of 1984 the two would fight again, and this time the judges weren't needed, with Yamamoto stopping Tomonari in 4 rounds to begin his second reign, and become only the 4th man at the time to recapture the Japanese Lightweight title.
Yamamoto’s second reign turned out to be a much more notable than his first, with 5 successful defenses. The most notable of those included a draw against Eiji Okita, in his first defence, a TKO9 win over Junichi Misawa, which had seen Yamamoto in real trouble before Misawa was stopped from an injured eye.
Sadly in 1987 Yamamoto would lose the title, suffering a 9th round TKO loss to the heavy handed Iwao Otomo, who dropped Yamamoto numerous times to force a TKO, and end Yamamoto's career at the age of 27. It would be the only time he would lose by TKO, and would end an unbeaten streak of 8 bouts, which had seen Yamamoto go 7-0-1 (7)
Following his in ring career Yamamoto remained close to boxing. He made a mark as a trainer at the Koichi Wajima Gym, where he served as the main trainer for Hironari Ohshima. He later opened the Cheyenne Yamamoto Gym, where he served as the chairman and as a trainer, before later becoming the chairman of the Reboot Gym.
In 2017 he was hospitalised following a traffic accident, though recovered well and remained a popular figure in Japanese boxing circles.
Sources in Japan have reported that Yamamoto was feeling ill about a month ago, and that it was revealed by a close friend of his that he had been suffering from pancreatic cancer.