Koichi Wajima

Wajima c. 1973
Personal information
Nickname	Hono no Otoko (Man on Fire)
Born	Koichi Wajima (1943-04-21)21 April 1943 (age 82)[1] Shibetsu,Hokkaidō[1]
Height	5 ft7+1⁄2 in (171 cm)[1]
Weight	Light-middleweight
Boxing career
Stance	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	38
Wins	31
Win by KO	25
Losses	6
Draws	1

Koichi Wajima (輪島 功一, born 21 April 1943) is a Japanese former professionalboxer who was theundisputedlight-middleweight champion. He held theWBA andWBC titles from 1971 and 1974, he regained the titles in January 1975 that includedThe Ring title but lost it right away on June of the same year. He once again won the WBA andThe Ring title in 1976.

Wajima was born in Karafuto, (currentSakhalin) which becameSoviet territory when Wajima was three years old. He and his family moved toShibetsu, Hokkaidō, but barely managed to make a living, Wajima was put up for adoption. He lived with his stepfamily while his parents worked inShibetsu.^{[citation needed]}

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 toTokyo, 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 Japaneselight-middleweight title in September, 1969. He defended the title 9 times before returning it. He got his first shot at the world title againstCarmelo Bossi for the world light middleweight title on October 31, 1971, inTokyo, 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 toOscar 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 theLineal,WBC andWBA titles. He was stripped of theWBC title in March, and lost toJae-Doo Yuh to lose hisLineal andWBA 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 toJose 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, challengingEddie Gazo for theWBA super welterweight title, but lost by 11th-round KO. This was the last fight of his career. His record was 31-6-1 (25KOs).

• WBA light middleweight champion (154 lbs) (3×)
• WBC light middleweight champion (154 lbs) (2×)

• The Ring light middleweight champion (154 lbs) (2×)

• Japaneselight middleweight champion (154 lbs)

• Undisputed light middleweight champion (2×)

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 inTokyo. His brother-in-law also runs a successful dumpling store inKokubunji, Tokyo. He also claims that condemned prisonerIwao 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.

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

Wikimedia Commons has media related toKoichi Wajima.

• Boxing record for Koichi Wajima fromBoxRec(registration required)
• Koichi Wajima boxing gym official (Japanese)
• Koichi Wajima - CBZ Profile

• 1943 births
• Living people
• Martial artists from Hokkaido
• World Boxing Association champions
• World Boxing Council champions
• The Ring (magazine) champions
• Light-middleweight boxers
• World light-middleweight boxing champions
• Boxing commentators
• Japanese male boxers
• 20th-century Japanese sportsmen

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