# Koichi Wajima

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

| 38 fights | 31 wins | 6 losses |
| By knockout | 25 | 5 |
| By decision | 6 | 1 |
| Draws | 1 | 1 |
| No. | Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round, time | Date | Location | Notes |
| 38 | Loss | 30–6–1 | Eddie Gazo | TKO | 11 (15), 0:45 | Jun 7, 1977 | Nihon Budokan, Tokyo, Japan | For WBA and The Ring light-middleweight titles |
| 37 | Loss | 30–5–1 | Jose Manuel Duran | KO | 14 (15), 0:50 | May 18, 1976 | Nihon University, Tokyo, Japan | Lost WBA and The Ring light-middleweight titles |
| 36 | Win | 30–4–1 | Yuh Jae-Doo | KO | 15 (15), 1:47 | Feb 17, 1976 | Nihon University, Tokyo, Japan | Won WBA and The Ring light-middleweight titles |
| 35 | Loss | 29–4–1 | Yuh Jae-Doo | KO | 7 (15), 2:04 | Jun 7, 1975 | City Sogo Gym, Kitakyushu, Fukuoka, Japan | Lost WBA and The Ring light-middleweight titles |
| 34 | Win | 29–3–1 | Oscar Albarado | UD | 15 | Jan 21, 1975 | Nihon University, Tokyo, Japan | Won WBA, WBC, and The Ring light-middleweight titles |
| 33 | Loss | 28–3–1 | Oscar Albarado | KO | 15 (15), 1:57 | Jun 4, 1974 | Nihon University, Tokyo, Japan | Lost WBA and WBC light-middleweight titles; For inaugural The Ring light-middleweight title |
| 32 | Win | 28–2–1 | Miguel de Oliveira | MD | 15 | Feb 5, 1974 | Metropolitan Gym, Tokyo, Japan | Retained WBA and WBC light-middleweight titles |
| 31 | Win | 27–2–1 | Silvano Bertini | RTD | 12 (15), 3:00 | Aug 14, 1973 | Makomanai Ice Arena, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan | Retained WBA and WBC light-middleweight titles |
| 30 | Win | 26–2–1 | Ryu Sorimachi | MD | 15 | Apr 19, 1973 | Prefectural Gymnasium, Osaka, Japan | Retained WBA and WBC light-middleweight titles |
| 29 | Draw | 25–2–1 | Miguel de Oliveira | MD | 15 | Jan 9, 1973 | Metropolitan Gym, Tokyo, Japan | Retained WBA and WBC light-middleweight titles |
| 28 | Win | 25–2 | Matt Donovan | KO | 3 (15), 0:53 | Oct 3, 1972 | Nihon University, Tokyo, Japan | Retained WBA and WBC light-middleweight titles |
| 27 | Win | 25–2 | Domenico Tiberia | KO | 1 (15), 1:49 | May 7, 1972 | Sports Centre, Fukuoka, Japan | Retained WBA and WBC light-middleweight titles |
| 26 | Win | 24–2 | Cassius Naito | KO | 7 (12), 1:30 | Feb 2, 1972 | Metropolitan Gym, Tokyo, Japan | |
| 25 | Win | 23–2 | Carmelo Bossi | SD | 15 | Oct 31, 1971 | Nihon University, Tokyo, Japan | Won WBA and WBC light-middleweight titles |
| 24 | Win | 22–2 | Tetsuo Hoshino | KO | 2 (10), 2:41 | May 28, 1971 | Tokyo, Japan | Retained Japanese light-middleweight title |
| 23 | Win | 21–2 | Alfredo Fuentes | KO | 1 (10), 3:08 | Mar 26, 1971 | Tokyo, Japan | |
| 22 | Win | 20–2 | Hideo Kanazawa | KO | 2 (10), 1:45 | Feb 18, 1971 | Osaka, Japan | |
| 21 | Win | 19–2 | Hisao Minami | KO | 7 (10), 2:38 | Jan 8, 1971 | Tokyo, Japan | Retained Japanese light-middleweight title |
| 20 | Win | 18–2 | Raizo Kashima | KO | 3 (10), 2:34 | Oct 30, 1970 | Tokyo, Japan | Retained Japanese light-middleweight title |
| 19 | Win | 17–2 | Tetsuo Hoshino | KO | 5 (10), 2:12 | Sep 10, 1970 | Tokyo, Japan | Retained Japanese light-middleweight title |
| 18 | Win | 16–2 | Muneo Mizoguchi | KO | 8 (10), 2:09 | Aug 9, 1970 | Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan | Retained Japanese light-middleweight title |
| 17 | Win | 15–2 | Ken Sato | KO | 3 (10), 2:31 | May 23, 1970 | Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan | |
| 16 | Win | 14–2 | George Carter | SD | 10 | Apr 9, 1970 | Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan | Retained Japanese light-middleweight title |
| 15 | Loss | 13–2 | George Carter | UD | 10 | Feb 5, 1970 | Tokyo, Japan | Retained Japanese light-middleweight title |
| 14 | Win | 13–1 | Turtle Okabe | KO | 7 (10), 2:25 | Dec 18, 1969 | Tokyo, Japan | Retained Japanese light-middleweight title |
| 13 | Loss | 12–1 | Pedro Adigue | KO | 1 (10), 2:21 | Oct 30, 1969 | Tokyo, Japan | |
| 12 | Win | 12–0 | Noriyasu Yoshimura | KO | 4 (10), 1:37 | Sep 4, 1969 | Nagoya, Aichi, Japan | Won Japanese light-middleweight title |
| 11 | Win | 11–0 | Rocky Alarde | KO | 8 (10), 1:28 | Jul 30, 1969 | Tokyo, Japan | |
| 10 | Win | 10–0 | Alacran Kusanagi | KO | 9 (10), 0:21 | Jun 16, 1969 | Tokyo, Japan | |
| 9 | Win | 9–0 | Takemi Kato | KO | 6 (8), 1:00 | Mar 27, 1969 | Tokyo, Japan | |
| 8 | Win | 8–0 | Masaki Nomoto | PTS | 6 | Feb 3, 1969 | Tokyo, Japan | |
| 7 | Win | 7–0 | Masami Takechi | RTD | 4 (6), 3:00 | Dec 30, 1968 | Tokyo, Japan | |
| 6 | Win | 6–0 | Sozo Yamamoto | KO | 1 (4), 1:25 | Oct 27, 1968 | Tokyo, Japan | |
| 5 | Win | 5–0 | Takao Higa | KO | 3 (4), 1:19 | Oct 6, 1968 | Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan | |
| 4 | Win | 4–0 | Tadakazu Sakai | KO | 2 (4), 1:05 | Aug 31, 1968 | Tokyo, Japan | |
| 3 | Win | 3–0 | Toshiaki Kaneko | KO | 3 (4), 2:00 | Aug 8, 1968 | Tokyo, Japan | |
| 2 | Win | 2–0 | Koji Watanabe | KO | 2 (4), 0:52 | Jun 30, 1968 | Tokyo, Japan | |
| 1 | Win | 1–0 | Akira Takekawa | KO | 1 (4), 2:41 | Jun 15, 1968 | Tokyo, Japan | |

## 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.