Koichi Wajima

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.

Koichi Wajima
Wajima c. 1973
Statistics
Real nameKoichi Wajima
Nickname(s)Hono no Otoko (Man on Fire)
Weight(s)super welterweight
Height5 ft 7 1⁄2 in (171 cm)[1]
NationalityJapanese
Born (1943-04-21) 21 April 1943[1]
Shibetsu, Hokkaidō[1]
StanceOrthodox
Boxing record
Total fights38
Wins31
Wins by KO25
Losses6
Draws1
No contests0

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.

See also

References
  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.
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
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
WBA Light Middleweight Champion
February 17, 1976 — May 18, 1976
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