Takeshi Fuji (藤猛, born Paul Takeshi Fujii on July 6, 1940) is a Hawaiian-born Japanese former professional boxer.^[1] He is a former Lineal, WBA and WBC super lightweight (light welterweight) champion.

Born in 1940, Paul Fujii was a third-generation Japanese-Hawaiian.^[1] He was raised in the Territory of Hawaii, graduated from Farrington High School, and served in the United States Marine Corps.^[2]

During his amateur boxing career, Fujii had a record of 116 wins and 16 losses over a total of 132 fights.^[1]

Fujii started boxing professionally in April 1964.^[1] He traveled to Japan, where he became known as Fuji Takeshi, and joined the boxing gym run by former professional wrestler Rikidōzan. Though he fought in Japan for most of his career, he could not speak Japanese. His trainer, Eddie Townsend, was also a Japanese-American. He made his professional debut in April, 1964 with a 2nd-round KO.

In June, 1965, Fuji challenged the Japanese super lightweight title, and won by KO only 45 seconds into the first round. This was his 11th professional fight, and he defended the title once before returning it. Fuji won the OPBF light welterweight title in 1966.

Paul Fujii starred in a feature-length film playing himself called The Story of Paul Fujii, which was released in 1968.^[9]

After retiring as a professional boxer, Fujii returned to Hawaii.^[10] In 1996, he moved back to Japan, briefly serving as chairman of the Iwaki Kyōei Gym.^[10] He went on to teach boxing mainly to children in Mito, Ibaraki, until the gym went bankrupt in June 2015.^[10]

In August 2015, Fujii registered as a special trainer at a gym in Ōta, Tokyo.^[10] At the time, his wife and two of his children were living in Hawaii, while his eldest son's family lived in Japan.^[10]

• Lineal championship
• Boxing in Japan
• List of Japanese boxing world champions
• List of world light-welterweight boxing champions