# Kōji Kobayashi (boxer)

Kōji Kobayashi (小林 光二, Kobayashi Kōji, born August 27, 1957) is a retired Japanese professional boxer who is a former WBC and lineal flyweight champion.

## Early life

Kobayashi was poor at sports in his childhood. He was a slow runner, and lacked in arm strength. He began boxing at Tanabe Boxing Gym while studying design at Tokyo Designer Gakuin College after graduating from high school, and transferred to Kadoebi Houseki Boxing Gym after a year.

## Professional career

Kobayashi made his professional debut with a third round knockout victory in December 1978. He won the annual Japanese boxing series, East Japan Rookie King Tournament in the flyweight division by knocking out the future Japanese featherweight champion Hiroyuki Kobayashi at the Korakuen Hall in December 1979. However, he was knocked out by Jirō Watanabe in the first round of the final match of All-Japan Rookie King Tournament at the Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium in February 1980. He then had a fifteen-fight winning streak including ten knockouts over the former world ranked boxer Facomron Vibonchai, the national champions of Thailand, Philippines, Korea and others.
On January 18, 1984, Kobayashi fought against Frank Cedeño for the WBC and lineal flyweight titles at the Korakuen Hall. For that fight, Isamu Mitsuhira, the former trainer of Kyokutō Boxing Club to which Yoshiaki Numata belonged, served as his special coach. Kobayashi, who appeared in the ring while listening to the music with the Walkman, knocked out Cedeño flooring him four times with his left crosses and left hook in the second round to be crowned the new champion.
In his first defense in April 1984, he was knocked out by the mandatory challenger Gabriel Bernal in the second round at the Korakuen Hall. Kobayashi moved up in weight division and was poised to be a two division champion, but lost to Kazuo Katsuma via a twelfth round stoppage in the WBC junior bantamweight title eliminator in March 1985. He retired after a two-fight losing streak.

## Professional boxing record

| 31 fights | 24 wins | 4 losses |
| By knockout | 15 | 4 |
| By decision | 9 | 0 |
| Draws | 3 | 3 |
| No. | Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round, time | Date | Location | Notes |
| 31 | Loss | 24–4–3 | Yoshiyuki Uchida | TKO | 7 (10) | 1985-08-27 | Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan | |
| 30 | Loss | 24–3–3 | Kazuo Katsuma | TKO | 12 (12) | 1985-03-05 | Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan | |
| 29 | Win | 24–2–3 | Joe Shiranui | UD | 10 (10) | 1984-12-01 | City Gymnasium, Tsuruga, Japan | |
| 28 | Win | 23–2–3 | Kap Dong Park | UD | 10 (10) | 1984-10-16 | Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan | |
| 27 | Win | 22–2–3 | Allan Makitoki | MD | 10 (10) | 1984-06-19 | Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan | |
| 26 | Loss | 21–2–3 | Gabriel Bernal | KO | 2 (12) | 1984-04-09 | Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan | Lost WBC and The Ring flyweight titles |
| 25 | Win | 21–1–3 | Frank Cedeno | TKO | 2 (12) | 1984-01-18 | Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan | Won WBC and The Ring flyweight titles |
| 24 | Win | 20–1–3 | Rord Mitsuru | TKO | 7 (10) | 1983-07-07 | Kinki University Auditorium, Osaka, Japan | |
| 23 | Win | 19–1–3 | Chan Soo Jung | TKO | 5 (10) | 1983-04-19 | Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan | |
| 22 | Win | 18–1–3 | Rodrigo Saonoy | UD | 10 (10) | 1982-11-05 | Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan | |
| 21 | Draw | 17–1–3 | Jackal Maruyama | UD | 10 (10) | 1982-09-03 | Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan | |
| 20 | Win | 17–1–2 | Jong Chul Park | RTD | 5 (10) | 1982-06-04 | Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan | |
| 19 | Win | 16–1–2 | Flash Jagdon | UD | 10 (10) | 1982-03-06 | Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan | |
| 18 | Win | 15–1–2 | Phaktai Lipovitan | KO | 4 (10) | 1981-11-21 | Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan | |
| 17 | Win | 14–1–2 | Jiro Takada | TKO | 7 (10) | 1981-08-04 | Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan | |
| 16 | Win | 13–1–2 | Facomron Vibonchai | KO | 2 (10) | 1981-05-10 | Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan | |
| 15 | Win | 12–1–2 | Nobuo Horigome | KO | 4 (10) | 1981-04-07 | Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan | |
| 14 | Win | 11–1–2 | Fujimi Wada | KO | 2 (8) | 1981-02-03 | Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan | |
| 13 | Win | 10–1–2 | Hirohisa Iino | KO | 6 (10) | 1980-12-16 | Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan | |
| 12 | Win | 9–1–2 | Nobuo Horigome | PTS | 8 (8) | 1980-11-08 | Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan | |
| 11 | Win | 8–1–2 | Kazuyoshi Funaki | KO | 1 (8) | 1980-08-29 | Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan | |
| 10 | Win | 7–1–2 | Yoshiaki Kanda | PTS | 6 (6) | 1980-04-14 | Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan | |
| 9 | Loss | 6–1–2 | Jiro Watanabe | KO | 1 (6) | 1980-02-21 | Prefectural Gymnasium, Osaka, Japan | |
| 8 | Win | 6–0–2 | Hiroyuki Kobayashi | KO | 2 (6) | 1979-12-23 | Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan | |
| 7 | Win | 5–0–2 | Mutsuo Watanabe | PTS | 4 (4) | 1979-09-21 | Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan | |
| 6 | Win | 4–0–2 | Koichi Togashi | KO | 3 (4) | 1979-07-20 | Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan | |
| 5 | Win | 3–0–2 | Shinji Takagi | KO | 2 (4) | 1979-05-07 | Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan | |
| 4 | Win | 2–0–2 | Junichi Ota | PTS | 4 (4) | 1979-03-23 | Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan | |
| 3 | Draw | 1–0–2 | Kiyomi Sato | PTS | 4 (4) | 1979-02-23 | Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan | |
| 2 | Draw | 1–0–1 | Mutsuo Watanabe | PTS | 4 (4) | 1979-01-04 | Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan | |
| 1 | Win | 1–0 | Ryutaro Abe | KO | 3 (4) | 1978-12-12 | Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan | |

## Post retirement

Currently Kobayashi teaches sports as a civil servant in Katsushika.