A skillfull boxer with proper heart he turnd pro at 17 and learned some tough lessons early on in his career - he went four in a row without winning twice, LLLL, then DLLD. Only 21, Kobayashi took a traditional route for his comeback and went through the Japaneese featherweight title to the WBC and WBA super-featherweight titles at the expense of classy countryman Numata. Before this, though, Kobayashi was sent on a pilgrimige of sorts, which took him to Venezuela, Ecuador, Mexico and the US - this acounted for Hiroshi's second bad run, but by the fighters own testimony as well as what history shows, he was never the same fighter again. He was better in all departments. In beating Numata, Kobayashi had vanquished the fighter who had beaten the great Flash Elorde - and Hiroshi didn't just beat him, but destroyed him, flooring him on multiple occasions during the fight. His first defence was a shaky one - a draw with the solid Rene Barrientos - and was twice beaten by lightweights in non-title fights. But once he was settled he proved himself a determined champion, defeating Valladares, Amaya Canate and, best of all, Ricardo Arredondo - and not the prematurely burnt out version that would drop so many losses, but the big punching fighter who would return to Japan to win the title after Kobayashi was dethroned. There is nothing on YouTube available that shows Kobayashi during his impressive peak, which is a shame, because in my view he became something quite special. Having already been beaten by Alfredo Marcano, running out of gas whilst supposedly ahead on points (never seen it - anyone?), Kobayashi stepped up to take on a monsterous, peaking Duran. Though it doesn't make happy viewing for Hiroshi it does show his technical ability - though he is thoroughly outjabbed - and his fighting heart, witness how he fights back against the bigger,monstrous 20 year old Duran when Hands of Stone pins him on the ropes. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfWM6P6EFTs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FycPMzr3_Jo Bit of a treat that fight, sort of a coming of age killing for Roberto, vanquishing the old champ. He looks so special in these films Duran. But the thread is about Hiroshi. Anyone like or rate this fighter? Any observations of footage?
...........I have his fight with Mando Ramos, where despite flooring the 19-year old phenom, he essentially had his ears boxed off in a non-title fight when he was the 130-pound titlist. That, to me was the best I've ever seen Ramos, who showed incredible poise and maturity for a teenager. My impressions of Kobayashi (such as they were) was that he was unprepared and had no inkling of a fight plan.
Hiroshi Kobayashi should be considered one of the most skilled boxers to ever come out of Japan. Kobayashi held the the WBA jr. lightweight title for 4 years making 6 successful title defenses while becoming a fan favorite without the help of a big punch. Kobayashi turned pro at the age of 17 and manage to overcome some rocky moments early in his career to become a world champion, at one point of Hiroshi lost 4 bouts in a row which you mentioned. What Kobayashi did have in abundance was determination as he only wanted to box and owned no car, had no girlfriend and no hobbies while he fought. Hiroshi moved his feet well setting up his punches through his movement and steady jab. Not owning a knockout punch Hiroshi learned early to use movement to avoid the rushes of his opponents who did not fear his punch. Shaking off early losses in his career Kobayashi won the Japanese featherweight crown in 1964. After he won the title he defended it 6 times in a run of 11 straight wins. Kobayashi then in 1966 went on a unprecedented tour of fights which took him to Venezuela,Ecuador, Mexico and Los Angeles. I can think of no other Japanese fighter who went on the road to fight as a challenger overseas when he had a good fan base in Japan. On that 6 fight tour of the western world Kobayashi lost 2 of the fights but got what he wanted from the tour.....knowledge and boxing skills! In 1967 Kobayashi challenged Yoshiaki Numata for the WBA jr. lightweight crown and dominated his countryman before taking him out in the 12th round. It was the very first world title bout to featuring two Japanese combatants. During the fight Kobayashi knocked down 4 times, once in the 6th and three times in the 12th round. None of Hiroshi's supporters could have expected a knockout as Kobayashi only knocked out 6 of his previous 57 foes! Numata was no easy foe either in his previous fight Numata had defeated legendary Filipino Flash Elorde. It did not look as if Hiroshi was meant to hang on to the title for long as he was rocked at times in his first defense against the very good Rene Barrientos and only his boxing skills saved him and allowed him to earn a controversial draw. Hiroshi did not fare as well however when he moved up in weight to fight both Mando Ramos and Ruben Navarro but lost to both of the naturally larger men. Kobayashi decided to concentrate on jr. lightweight foes and did so with success. He twice defeated Antonio Amaya and the challenges of Jaime Valladares and Carlos Canete. His most impressive defense was against Mexican Ricardo Arredondo whom he outboxed in a very good fight which saw Hiroshi establish his jab early and ride it to victory. Hiroshi looked to be on his way to a seventh defense when he ran out of gas after a impressive start against Alfredo Marcano. Hiroshi ran into a young and very talented buzz saw named Roberto Duran in next bout when he tried to establish himself again in the lightweight division. Hiroshi decided to hang up his gloves after this loss and still runs a successful gym in Tokyo.
How do you guys rate him next to Harada? I'm smitten with Harada right now, watched his matches with Jofre and Medel last night.
