is a retired professional boxer from Japan and a former WBA lightweight champion.
Kobori won the Japanese super featherweight title on January 14, 2006 by knocking out Keita Manabe in the second round. He went on to defend it 6 times.
Later, he took on Nicaraguan
José Alfaro for the
WBA lightweight
Lightweight is a weight class in combat sports and rowing.
Boxing
Professional boxing
The lightweight division is over 130 pounds (59 kilograms) and up to 135 pounds (61.2 kilograms) weight class in the sport of boxing.
Notable lightweight boxe ...
title
A title is one or more words used before or after a person's name, in certain contexts. It may signify either generation, an official position, or a professional or academic qualification. In some languages, titles may be inserted between the f ...
on May 19, 2008. Although he was backed against the ropes and counted in the second round, Kobori was able to carry on strong in the fight. In the third round, after doing a lot of defense, Kobori landed a punch which sent Alfaro to the canvass. Alfaro managed to beat the count but was in an unsteady state. Kobori charged to land a series of punches, prompting the referee to wave the fight off. With the win, Kobori became Japan's third world champion at lightweight and first since
Takanori Hatakeyama
is a former Japanese former professional boxer who competed from 1993 to 2001. He is a world champion in two weight classes, having held the WBA super-featherweight title from 1998 to 1999 and the WBA lightweight title from 2001 and 2001.
Pe ...
in 2000.
Kobori stops Alfaro in third round to win WBA lightweight crown
ESPN.com
Kobori attempted to defend his title against Paulus Moses
Paulus Moses (born 4 June 1978) is a Namibian professional boxer who held the WBA (Regular) lightweight title from 2009 to 2010. He retired on 20 October 2018, shortly after losing his WBO Africa middleweight fight in Accra, Ghana.
Profession ...
on January 3, 2009. He, however, lost the match and the crown by unanimous decision.
While training for his next bout, Kobori developed serious neck and waist problems which prompted him to quit boxing.
See also
*List of WBA world champions
This is a list of WBA world champions, showing every world champion certified by the World Boxing Association (WBA). The list also includes champions certified by the National Boxing Association (NBA), the predecessor to the WBA.
Boxers who won t ...
*List of lightweight boxing champions
This is a list of world lightweight boxing champions by organization, as recognized by four of the better-known sanctioning organizations:
* The World Boxing Association (WBA), founded in 1921 as the National Boxing Association (NBA),
* The World ...
*List of Japanese boxing world champions
This is a list of Japanese boxing world champions who have won major world titles from the "Big four" Sports governing body, governing bodies in professional boxing namely the World Boxing Association (WBA), World Boxing Council (WBC), Internation ...
*Boxing in Japan
The history of boxing in Japan began in 1854 when Matthew C. Perry, Matthew Perry landed at Shimoda, Shizuoka soon after the Convention of Kanagawa. At that time, American sailors often engaged in sparring matches on board their ships, with thei ...
References
External links
*
1981 births
Living people
Lightweight boxers
People from Yotsukaidō
Sportspeople from Chiba Prefecture
World Boxing Association champions
World lightweight boxing champions
Japanese male boxers
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