Eijiro Murata was born in Kaga, Japan, in the southwestern prefecture of Ishikawa, on November 30, 1956.
His father, who worked as a cook in a Chinese restaurant, encouraged his son to take up karate, but Eijiro was more interested in music. When Eijiro was in junior high school, his older brother was scouted by a talent agency and became a professional drummer.
“I was scouted by the founder, too, but my father declined the offer,” Murata told The Ring through Hank Hakoda. “My life might have been totally different if my father had agreed.” (laughs)
His father was concerned that Eijiro was introverted and shy, so he took him to a boxing gym in Kyoto when he was 12 years old.
Murata, now 66, is married and has two children and lives in Takatsuki, Osaka. He has three dogs and enjoys walking them near his home.
He graciously took time to speak to The Ring about the best he fought in 10 key categories.
BEST JAB
Jeff Chandler: He shook me up with speedy jabs followed by the same speedy one-twos. What made his jabs remarkable was not only speed, but also distance and timing. When I was about to throw punches, he always threw effective jabs first. His jabs caught me from the distance I wasn’t expecting. He had a long reach, 71 ½ inches (182 cm). Lupe Pintor was also a good, unpredictable jabber who gave me a hard time, but Chandler was way quicker. Chandler threw a good jab and made other punches also effective. He was long and he had a good reach and very good snap behind the jab. Pintor’s jabs were also hard to predict.
BEST DEFENSE
Lupe Pintor: People talk about Pintor’s great offense, but actually his defense is always overlooked. He vigorously fought like a tank, throwing endless punches with an extremely busy tempo, but at the same time, he never forgot to keep his guard high, even when he was going forward. His defense obviously imposed a difficult fight on me. He kept his guard up all the time.
BEST FOOTWORK
In Kyu Park: He showcased rhythmical footwork, which created good openings for him to throw very fast one-two combos. It was hard to keep up with those moves. He was a very good mover; he was tough to get to.
BEST HANDSPEED
Hisami Numata: Numata had a very good handspeed. He delivered constant and quick moves.
SMARTEST
Jiro Takada: Takada was a seasoned veteran, an ex-Japanese and ex-OPBF titleholder as well as a two-time world title challenger. [Note: Takada lost to WBC flyweight titleholder Miguel Canto (TKO 11) in 1975 and WBA flyweight titlist Guty Espadas (KO 7) in 1977.] Takada was still a smart and an elusive fighter. Due to his bob-and-weaver moves along with his great defense, I was unable to track him down to finish him. He fought a very smart fight. I would say his moves were very [well thought-out].
STRONGEST
Shuichi Isogami: Physically, Isogami was pretty strong. I was not feeling up for the bout, as I knew his style would possibly annoy me. I knew he was a kind of driven fighter who never backed off and patiently kept attacking until his foes quit. He fought in an all-out attacking mode, coming at me hard.
BEST CHIN
Joe Araki: Araki was a durable guy. I whacked him with a slew of serious shots, but he was going nowhere and remained unstoppable as ever.
BEST PUNCHER
Pintor: It would be between Pintor and Chandler. Although Chandler was the only guy who knocked me out, I would still go with Pintor for his devastating punching power. Pintor had bigger single punch power; he had really powerful hands.
BEST BOXING SKILLS
Hurricane Teru: Hurricane Teru comes to mind first, and I think he was impressively skilled. There are so many different techniques in boxing. It could be defense, or the overall feel of the technique, etc. Needless to say, both Chandler and Pintor showcased rich, world-class [skills], but let me go with Hurricane Teru in this category. I was just impressed by his technical boxing.
BEST OVERALL
Jeff Chandler: I’d have to say Chandler; he beat me twice. He was a good all-rounder and an evasive fighter. He was the best in speed, jabs and especially his sneakiness. His jabs were sneaky, very long jabs. He knew what he wanted and just employed as evasive tactics as he could think of without putting himself at risk to punches. He was a dodger who knew how to get out, and that was probably how he could survive knockdowns for a long time. He fought well at long distance and I could not forecast from where his uppercuts would come. I got caught with his signature uppercuts from a lot longer distance than I expected. He was always looking to outmaneuver and get out of the way.
Hank Hakoda coordinated and translated this feature.
nice interview with a dude who shared the ring with some good ones