Koichi Wajima

Koichi Wajima
Koichi Wajima
	Wajima c. 1973
Statistics
Real name	Koichi Wajima
Nickname(s)	Hono no Otoko (Man on Fire)
Weight(s)	super welterweight
Height	5 ft 7 1⁄2 in (171 cm)[1]
Nationality	Japanese
Born	21 April 1943[1]; Shibetsu, Hokkaidō[1]
Stance	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	38
Wins	31
Wins by KO	25
Losses	6
Draws	1
No contests	0

Koichi Wajima (輪島功一, born 21 April 1943) is a retired Japanese professional boxer who competed in the light middleweight (154 lb) division. He is the former Undisputed Light Middleweight Champion of the World, who won both WBC and WBA titles.

Childhood and early career

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.

Wajima 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.

Professional career

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.[2] 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.

Wajima lost to Jose Manuel Duran in his first defense, losing the world title for the third time in his career. He fought his final match In June, 1977, challenging Eddie Gazo for the WBA super welterweight title, but lost by 11th round KO. This was the last fight of his career. His record was 31-6-1 (25KOs).

Professional boxing record

31 Wins (25 knockouts, 6 decisions), 6 Losses (5 knockouts, 1 decision), 1 Draw
Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round	Date	Location	Notes
Loss	30–6–1	Eddie Gazo	TKO	11 (15)	07/06/1977	Nihon Budokan, Tokyo, Japan	For WBA and lineal light middleweight titles
Loss	30–5–1	Jose Manuel Duran	KO	14 (15)	18/05/1976	Nihon University, Tokyo, Japan	Lost WBA and lineal light middleweight titles
Win	30–4–1	Jae-Doo Yuh	KO	15	17/02/1976	Nihon University, Tokyo, Japan	Won WBA, The Ring, and lineal light middleweight titles
Loss	29–4–1	Jae-Doo Yuh	KO	7 (15)	07/06/1975	City Sogo Gym, Kitakyushu, Fukuoka, Japan	Lost WBA, WBC, The Ring, and lineal light middleweight titles
Win	29–3–1	Oscar Albarado	UD	15	21/01/1975	Nihon University, Tokyo, Japan	Won WBA, WBC, The Ring, and lineal light middleweight titles
Loss	28–3–1	Oscar Albarado	KO	15 (15)	04/06/1974	Nihon University, Tokyo, Japan	Lost WBA, WBC, and lineal light middleweight titles For inaugural The Ring light middleweight title
Win	28–2–1	Miguel De Oliveira	MD	15	05/02/1974	Metropolitan Gym, Tokyo, Japan	Retained WBA, WBC, and lineal light middleweight titles
Win	27–2–1	Silvano Bertini	RTD	12	14/08/1973	Makomanai Ice Arena, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan	Retained WBA, WBC, and lineal light middleweight titles
Win	26–2–1	Ryu Sorimachi	MD	15	19/04/1973	Prefectural Gymnasium, Osaka, Japan	Retained WBA, WBC, and lineal light middleweight titles
Draw	25–2–1	Miguel De Oliveira	PTS	15	09/01/1973	Metropolitan Gym, Tokyo, Japan	Retained WBA, WBC, and lineal light middleweight titles
Win	25–2	Matt Donovan	KO	3 (15)	03/10/1972	Nihon University, Tokyo, Japan	Retained WBA, WBC, and lineal light middleweight titles
Win	25–2	Domenico Tiberia	KO	1 (15)	07/05/1972	Sports Centre, Fukuoka, Japan	Retained WBA, WBC, and lineal light middleweight titles
Win	24–2	Cassius Naito	KO	7	02/02/1972	Metropolitan Gym, Tokyo, Japan
Win	23–2	Carmelo Bossi	SD	15	31/10/1971	Nihon University, Tokyo, Japan	Won WBA, WBC, and lineal light middleweight titles
Win	22–2	Tetsuo Hoshino	KO	2	28/05/1971	Tokyo, Japan	Japan Light Middleweight Title
Win	21–2	Alfredo Fuentes	KO	1	26/03/1971	Tokyo, Japan
Win	20–2	Hideo Kanazawa	KO	2	18/02/1971	Osaka, Japan
Win	19–2	Hisao Minami	KO	7	08/01/1971	Tokyo, Japan	Japan Light Middleweight Title
Win	18–2	Raizo Kashima	KO	3	30/10/1970	Tokyo, Japan	Japan Light Middleweight Title
Win	17–2	Tetsuo Hoshino	KO	5	10/09/1970	Tokyo, Japan	Japan Light Middleweight Title
Win	16–2	Muneo Mizoguchi	KO	8	09/08/1970	Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan	Japan Light Middleweight Title
Win	15–2	Ken Sato	KO	3	23/05/1970	Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan
Win	14–2	George Carter	SD	10	09/04/1970	Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan	Japan Light Middleweight Title
Loss	13–2	George Carter	UD	10	05/02/1970	Tokyo, Japan	Japan Light Middleweight Title
Win	13–1	Turtle Okabe	KO	7	18/12/1969	Tokyo, Japan	Japan Light Middleweight Title. Okabe knocked out at 2:25 of the 7th round.
Loss	12–1	Pedro Adigue	KO	1	30/10/1969	Tokyo, Japan
Win	12–0	Noriyasu Yoshimura	KO	4	04/09/1969	Nagoya, Aichi, Japan
Win	11–0	Rocky Alarde	KO	8	30/07/1969	Tokyo, Japan
Win	10–0	Alacran Kusanagi	KO	9	16/06/1969	Tokyo, Japan
Win	9–0	Takemi Kato	KO	6	27/03/1969	Tokyo, Japan
Win	8–0	Masaki Nomoto	PTS	6	03/02/1969	Tokyo, Japan
Win	7–0	Masami Takechi	RTD	4	30/12/1968	Tokyo, Japan
Win	6–0	Sozo Yamamoto	KO	1	27/10/1968	Tokyo, Japan
Win	5–0	Takao Higa	KO	3	06/10/1968	Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
Win	4–0	Tadakazu Sakai	KO	2	31/08/1968	Tokyo, Japan
Win	3–0	Toshiaki Kaneko	KO	3	08/08/1968	Tokyo, Japan
Win	2–0	Koji Watanabe	KO	2	30/06/1968	Tokyo, Japan
Win	1–0	Akira Takekawa	KO	1	15/06/1968	Tokyo, Japan

Post retirement

Like many other Japanese boxers, Wajima became a successful television personality after retiring, and has appeared on game shows and television dramas. He became the head of the Eastern Japan Boxing Council, and has founded his own boxing gym in Tokyo. His brother-in-law also runs a successful dumpling store in Kokubunji, Tokyo. He also claims that condemned prisoner Iwao Hakamada is innocent.[3] Hakamada was later released after 45 years in prison, due to new evidence and discovery of the prosecution's reliance on falsified evidence.

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References

"Koichi Wajima". boxrec.com. BoxRec. Retrieved 3 June 2015.
"Koichi Wajima - Lineal Junior Middleweight Champion". The Cyber Boxing Zone Encyclopedia.
"Calls mount for retrial of boxer 38 years on death row". The Japan Times. 2006-11-21. Retrieved 2008-07-22.

External links

Achievements
Preceded by Carmelo Bossi	Lineal Light Middleweight Champion 31 October 1971 – 4 June 1974	Succeeded by Oscar Albarado
	WBA Light Middleweight Champion 31 October 1971 – 4 June 1974
	WBC Light Middleweight Champion 31 October 1971 – 4 June 1974
Preceded by Oscar Albarado	Lineal Light Middleweight Champion The Ring Light Middleweight Champion January 21, 1975 – June 7, 1975	Succeeded by Jae-Doo Yuh
	WBA Light Middleweight Champion January 21, 1975 – June 7, 1975	Succeeded by Jae-Doo Yuh
	WBC Light Middleweight Champion January 21, 1975 – April 1975 Stripped	Vacant Title next held by Miguel de Oliveira
Preceded by Jae-Doo Yuh	Lineal Light Middleweight Champion The Ring Light Middleweight Champion February 17, 1976 — May 18, 1976	Succeeded by Jose Manuel Duran
Preceded by Jae-Doo Yuh	WBA Light Middleweight Champion February 17, 1976 — May 18, 1976	Succeeded by Jose Manuel Duran

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[boxrec-1] "Koichi Wajima". boxrec.com. BoxRec. Retrieved 3 June 2015.

[2] "Koichi Wajima - Lineal Junior Middleweight Champion". The Cyber Boxing Zone Encyclopedia.

[3] "Calls mount for retrial of boxer 38 years on death row". The Japan Times. 2006-11-21. Retrieved 2008-07-22.