is a retired Japanese

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regulatory autho ...

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 Featherweight is a weight class in the combat sports of boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, and Greco-Roman wrestling. Boxing Professional boxing History A featherweight boxer weighs in at a limit of . In the early days of the division, t ...

champion Hiroyuki Kobayashi at the Korakuen Hall in December 1979. However, he was knocked out by

Jirō Watanabe is a Japanese former boxer. Watanabe, who fought only in Japan and South Korea, was one of the first World super flyweight champions, as the division was relatively new when he was crowned. Biography With a background in Shotokan Karate, he ...

in the first round of the final match of All-Japan Rookie King Tournament at the

Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium is an indoor sporting arena located in Namba, Osaka, Japan. It first opened in 1952 and the current building was constructed in 1987. It is the venue of a professional sumo tournament ( honbasho) held in March every year. The capacity of the ...

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 Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

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 is a former world Junior Lightweight boxing champion. Numata turned professional in 1962 and won the Lineal, WBC and WBA super featherweight world titles by defeating Flash Elorde by decision in 1967, although Numata was knocked down in the ...

belonged, served as his special coach. Kobayashi, who appeared in the ring while listening to the music with the

Walkman Walkman, stylised as , is a brand of portable audio players manufactured and marketed by Japanese technology company Sony since 1979. The original Walkman was a portable cassette player and its popularity made "walkman" an unofficial term for p ...

, knocked out Cedeño flooring him four times with his left

cross A cross is a geometrical figure consisting of two intersecting lines or bars, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of the Latin letter X, is termed a sa ...

es and left

hook A hook is a tool consisting of a length of material, typically metal, that contains a portion that is curved or indented, such that it can be used to grab onto, connect, or otherwise attach itself onto another object. In a number of uses, one e ...

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 Super flyweight, also referred to as junior bantamweight, is a weight class in professional boxing, contested from and up to . History The first title match in this division was in 1980, when the World Boxing Council responded to pressure from As ...

title eliminator in March 1985. He retired after a two-fight losing streak.

Professional boxing record

Post retirement

Currently Kobayashi teaches sports as a civil servant in Katsushika.

References

Bibliography

External links

*
Kōji Kobayashi - CBZ Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kobayashi, Kōji 1957 births Living people Japanese male boxers Boxers from Tokyo People from Katsushika Southpaw boxers World flyweight boxing champions World Boxing Council champions The Ring (magazine) champions