Koichi Wajima boxer

Koichi Wajima boxer
bouts
38
won
31
lost
6
draw
1
Status
inactive
Division
super welterweight
Debut
1968-06-15
Height
5′ 7½″/171cm
Reach
-
Age
-
Born
1943-04-21
Death
-
Nationality
Japan

Koichi Wajima (輪島 功一, born 21 April 1943) is a Japanese former professional boxer who was the undisputed super-welterweight champion. He held the WBA and WBC titles between October 1971 and June 1974, he regained the titles on January 1975 that included The Ring title but lost it right away on June of the same year. He once again won the WBA and The Ring title and held it from February to May 1976.Wajima was born in Karafuto, (current Sakhalin) which became Soviet territory when Wajima was three years old. He and his family moved to Shibetsu, Hokkaidō, but barely managed to make a living, Wajima was put up for adoption. He lived with his stepfamily while his parents worked in Shibetsu.citation neededWajima began to work as a fisherman with his stepfamily. He was still in middle school, but had to work from sunset all the way to daybreak. The only time he had to sleep was during class. He was a fighter from a young age, having to work tirelessly each day, and often picking fights with other kids.After graduating from middle school, he traveled to Tokyo, where he worked briefly as a truck driver before joining the Misako Boxing Gym. He made his professional debut in March, 1968, at the age of 25.Wajima captured the Japanese super welterweight title in September, 1969. He defended the title 9 times before returning it. He got his first shot at the world title against Carmelo Bossi for the world light middleweight title on October 31, 1971 in Tokyo, winning by 15-round split decision to capture his first world title. He made his first defense in May, 1972, taking less than 2 minutes to knock out his opponent. He would defend the title a total of 6 times. He quickly became one of the most popular boxers in Japan for his peculiar "Frog Jump" uppercut punch.He lost his 7th defense to Oscar Albarado in 1974 by KO in the 15th round. He got a rematch with Albarado 7 months later, on January 21, 1975, and managed to avenge his loss with a 15-round decision win to regain the Lineal, WBC and WBA titles. He was stripped of the WBC title in March, and lost to Jae-Doo Yuh to lose his Lineal and WBA light middleweight titles as well. However, he regained his Lineal and WBA titles in February, 1976, with a 15th round KO over Yuh.

Date Opponent Last Opponents' Results Place Result
1977-06-07 Eddie Gazo LWWWWW Nippon Budokan LOST
KO
1976-05-18 Jose Duran LDWWDW Nihon University Auditorium LOST
KO
1976-02-17 Jae-Doo Yuh WWWWWW Nihon University Auditorium WIN
KO
1975-06-07 Jae-Doo Yuh WWWWWW City Sogo Gym, Kitakyushu LOST
KO
1975-01-21 Oscar Albarado LWWWWW Nihon University Auditorium WIN
Unanimous decision
1974-06-04 Oscar Albarado WWLWWW Nihon University Auditorium LOST
KO
1974-02-05 Miguel de Oliveira DWWWWW Metropolitan Gym WIN
Majority decision
1973-08-14 Silvano Bertini WLWWWW Makomanai Ice Arena, Sapporo WIN
Corner retirement
1973-04-19 Ryu Sorimachi WWWDWW Prefectural Gymnasium, Osaka WIN
Majority decision
1973-01-09 Miguel de Oliveira WWWWWW Metropolitan Gym DRAW
Majority decision
1972-10-03 Matt Donovan LWLLWL Nihon University Auditorium WIN
KO
1972-05-07 Domenico Tiberia DLLWLL Sports Center, Fukuoka WIN
KO
1972-02-02 Cassius Naito WWDWWL Metropolitan Gym WIN
KO
1971-10-31 Carmelo Bossi WLWWLD Nihon University Auditorium WIN
Split-decision
1971-05-28 Tetsuo Hoshino LWLDLL WIN
KO
1971-03-26 Alfredo Fuentes LLLLLL WIN
KO
1971-02-18 Hideo Kanazawa WWWWWW Prefectural Gymnasium, Osaka WIN
KO
1971-01-08 Hisao Minami WLLLLL WIN
KO
1970-10-30 Raizo Kashima WLDLLW WIN
KO
1970-09-10 Tetsuo Hoshino WWWWLW WIN
KO
1970-08-09 Muneo Mizoguchi LLWLLL Korakuen Hall WIN
KO
1970-05-23 Ken Sato LLLWLL Sapporo WIN
KO
1970-04-09 George Carter WWWWWW Korakuen Hall WIN
Split-decision
1970-02-05 George Carter LWWWWW LOST
Unanimous decision
1969-12-18 Turtle Okabe WWWWWL WIN
KO
1969-10-30 Pedro Adigue Jr WWWWWL LOST
KO
1969-09-04 Noriyasu Yoshimura LWWDWL Nagoya WIN
KO
1969-07-30 Rocky Alarde LLLLDW WIN
KO
1969-06-16 Alacran Kusanagi WWWWWW WIN
KO
1969-03-27 Takemi Kato LWWLLL WIN
KO
1969-02-03 Masaki Nomoto debut WIN
Points
1968-12-30 Masami Takechi debut WIN
Corner retirement
1968-10-27 Sozo Yamamoto DLDLL WIN
KO
1968-10-06 Takao Higa debut Korakuen Hall WIN
KO
1968-08-31 Tadakazu Sakai debut WIN
KO
1968-08-08 Toshiaki Kaneko debut WIN
KO
1968-06-30 Koji Watanabe debut WIN
KO
1968-06-15 Akira Takekawa debut WIN
KO