Koichi Wajima (輪島 功一, born 21 April 1943) is a Japanese former professional boxer who was the undisputed light-middleweight champion. He held the WBA and WBC titles from 1971 and 1974, he regained the titles in 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 in 1976.

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 light-middleweight 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.

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

ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes38Loss Eddie GazoTKO11 (15), Jun 7, 1977 37Loss30–5–1 Jose Manuel DuranKO14 (15), May 18, 1976 36Win30–4–1 Yuh Jae-DooKO15 (15), Feb 17, 1976 35Loss29–4–1 Yuh Jae-DooKO7 (15), Jun 7, 1975 34Win29–3–1 Oscar AlbaradoUD15Jan 21, 1975 33Loss28–3–1 Oscar AlbaradoKO15 (15), Jun 4, 1974 32Win28–2–1 Miguel de OliveiraMD15Feb 5, 1974 31Win27–2–1 Silvano BertiniRTD12 (15), Aug 14, 1973 30Win26–2–1 Ryu SorimachiMD15Apr 19, 1973 29Draw25–2–1 Miguel de OliveiraMD15Jan 9, 1973 28Win25–2Matt DonovanKO3 (15), Oct 3, 1972 27Win25–2 Domenico TiberiaKO1 (15), May 7, 1972 26Win24–2 Cassius NaitoKO7 (12), Feb 2, 1972 25Win23–2 Carmelo BossiSD15Oct 31, 1971 24Win22–2 Tetsuo HoshinoKO2 (10), May 28, 1971 23Win21–2 Alfredo FuentesKO1 (10), Mar 26, 1971 22Win20–2 Hideo KanazawaKO2 (10), Feb 18, 1971 21Win19–2 Hisao MinamiKO7 (10), Jan 8, 1971 20Win18–2 Raizo KashimaKO3 (10), Oct 30, 1970 19Win17–2 Tetsuo HoshinoKO5 (10), Sep 10, 1970 18Win16–2 Muneo MizoguchiKO8 (10), Aug 9, 1970 17Win15–2 Ken SatoKO3 (10), May 23, 1970 16Win14–2 George CarterSD10Apr 9, 1970 15Loss13–2 George CarterUD10Feb 5, 1970 14Win13–1 Turtle OkabeKO7 (10), Dec 18, 1969 13Loss12–1 Pedro AdigueKO1 (10), Oct 30, 1969 12Win12–0 Noriyasu YoshimuraKO4 (10), Sep 4, 1969 11Win11–0 Rocky AlardeKO8 (10), Jul 30, 1969 10Win10–0 Alacran KusanagiKO9 (10), Jun 16, 1969 9Win9–0 Takemi KatoKO6 (8), Mar 27, 1969 8Win8–0 Masaki NomotoPTS6Feb 3, 1969 7Win7–0 Masami TakechiRTD4 (6), Dec 30, 1968 6Win6–0 Sozo YamamotoKO1 (4), Oct 27, 1968 5Win5–0 Takao HigaKO3 (4), Oct 6, 1968 4Win4–0 Tadakazu SakaiKO2 (4), Aug 31, 1968 3Win3–0 Toshiaki KanekoKO3 (4), Aug 8, 1968 2Win2–0 Koji WatanabeKO2 (4), Jun 30, 1968 1Win1–0 Akira TakekawaKO1 (4), Jun 15, 1968

Titles in boxing Major world titles WBA light middleweight champion (154 lbs) (3×) WBC light middleweight champion (154 lbs) (2×)

The Ring magazine titles The Ring light middleweight champion (154 lbs) (2×)

Regional/International titles Japanese light middleweight champion (154 lbs)

Undisputed titles Undisputed light middleweight champion (2×)

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. 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 List of world light-middleweight boxing champions List of Japanese boxing world champions Boxing in Japan

References

External links

Koichi Wajima boxing gym official (Japanese) Koichi Wajima - CBZ Profile