Celes Kobayashi
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Celes Kobayashi (セレス小林, born Shoji Kobayashi, February 27, 1973) is a former professional boxer from Ibaraki, Japan. He is a former WBA Super flyweight champion. He got his ring name, "Celes", from a company he used to work for. He lives in Chiba, Japan, with his wife and daughter.


Biography

Kobayashi made his debut in April 1992 in the
bantamweight Bantamweight is a weight class in combat sports. For boxing, the range is above and up to . In kickboxing, a bantamweight fighter generally weighs between . In MMA, bantamweight is . The name for the class is derived from bantam chickens. B ...
division, losing by 4th-round decision. He dropped down two weight classes to challenge the Japanese flyweight title in 1997, but sustained an injury in the 3rd round, and was unable to capture the title. He challenged the title again in April 1998, losing by 10-round decision, but finally won the title in September of the same year, winning the decision. He defended the title four times from 1998 to 2000. In August 2000, Kobayashi made his first attempt at the world title against Malcolm Tunacao for the WBC
Flyweight Flyweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Flyweight is a class in boxing which includes fighters weighing above 49 kg (108 lb) and up to 51 kg (112 lb). Professional boxing The flyweight division was the last of b ...
title. The fight was a draw, and the champion, Tunacao, retained the title. Kobayashi made his second try for the world title in March 2001, challenging
Leo Gamez Leo or Léo may refer to: Acronyms * Law enforcement officer * Law enforcement organisation * ''Louisville Eccentric Observer'', a free weekly newspaper in Louisville, Kentucky * Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity Arts a ...
for the WBA Super flyweight title. He won by TKO in the 10th round, having dominated Gamez for the entire fight. Kobayashi made his first defense in September 2001, winning by split decision. He fought Alexander Muñoz (undefeated in 21 fights, all won by KO) in March 2002, for his second defense, and lost by TKO in the 8th round to lose his title. After his loss to Munoz, Kobayashi declined an offer to challenge Masamori Tokuyama for the WBC Super flyweight title, and retired from boxing.


Post retirement

Kobayashi worked briefly as a trainer for his former gym before creating the "Celes Kobayashi Boxing Gym" in Chiba, Japan. He frequently appears as a commentator in Japan for boxing title matches.


See also

* List of WBA world champions *
List of super flyweight boxing champions This is a list of world super-flyweight boxing champions (also known as junior-bantamweight), as recognized by the four major sanctioning organizations in boxing: * The World Boxing Association (WBA), established in 1921 as the National Boxing As ...
* List of Japanese boxing world champions * Boxing in Japan


Sources


External links

*
Celes boxing gym official (Japanese)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kobayashi, Celes 1973 births Living people Super-flyweight boxers World Boxing Association champions World super-flyweight boxing champions World boxing champions Japanese male boxers Presidents of the Japan Pro Boxing Association