Posted February 14, 20232 yr comment_5999323 Donald Takeshi (ドナルド・タケシ) Real name: Donald Leow Seng Boo Professional names: Donald Takeshi Life: 4/25/1950- Born: Singapore Career: 1968-1975 Height/Weight: 186cm/105kg (6'1"/220lbs.) Signature moves: Dropkick Promotions: Japan Pro Wrestling/JWA, New Japan Pro Wrestling Titles: none Donald Takeshi was puroresu's first "exchange student", a second-generation Singaporean wrestler. Donald Leow Seng Boo was the son of Singaporean wrestler Leow Kong Seng, whose career seems to have spanned from the late forties through the late sixties. At 17, he was encouraged by his father to drop out of the country’s oldest and most prestigious secondary school, the Raffles Institution, and wrestle in Japan. He joined the JWA during Karl Gotch’s year as coach and debuted in a battle royal on May 26, 1968. According to Mitsuo Momota, Donald quickly adapted to the setting, and he learned Japanese quickly by conversing with the young female receptionists at the ryokan where they stayed. After winning his first match against Tatsumi Fujinami on June 30, 1971, he had proclaimed that he wanted to be as famous as Donald Duck. He also stated his ideal as a wrestler, which was to be a cross between Michiaki Yoshimura and the Destroyer. Donald was conscripted into the Singapore Army two months later, but newspaper ads for early 1973 shows at the Gay World Stadium indicate that he wrestled during this time. By the time his service was done, the JWA was gone, so he joined New Japan, where he wrestled for eighteen months starting at the beginning of 1974. Most notably, he participated in the first Karl Gotch Cup on the last tour of the year, where he only managed a single win against Daigoro Oshiro. He brought a Chinese-Singaporean friend along with him, “Bruce”, who never wrestled but trained with the company for a time. Killer Khan recalled that Donald had held aspirations to become a promoter in Singapore, but these never materialized. According to a 2013 Tokyo Sports column by Kagehiro Osano, Donald found work back home as a travel guide.
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