Koichi was a later starter and largely self taught. He had a crushing right hand and because of his lack of formal training he was never in a easy fight. Severely underrated and and even more criminal he isn't even in the Boxing Hall of Fame.
Oscar "Shotgun" Albarado (48-6-1) was from Uvalde, TX near San Antonio, and when he won the Title in a big upset over Wajima,... when he came back home to SA, the cervezas flowed. Albarado made one successful title defense in Japan against Ryu Sorimachi 6 months later, then lost to Wajima by UD 3 months after that in Japan. 1974-06-04 : Oscar Albarado 151¾ lbs beat Koichi Wajima 153¾ lbs by KO at 1:57 in round 15 of 15 Location: Nihon University Auditorium, Tokyo, Japan Referee: Yusaku Yoshida 65-67 Judge: Seiji Ebine 67-66 Judge: Takeaki Kanaya 65-67 World Boxing Association Super Welterweight Title World Boxing Council Super Welterweight Title Time: 1:57 Weights: Wajima 153.75 lbs, Albarado 151.75 lbs In a sensational slugfest with plenty of back and forth action, Koichi Wajima was knocked down three times in the final round for a monsterous climax in front of 10,000 Japanese fans. After losing the first 3 rounds with his counterpunch tactics, Wajima took the fight to his challenger and stood toe to toe. Albarado was used to this style of fighting, and both turned it into a wicked slugfest. Rounds 7 through 10 saw Albarado and Wajima stand toe-to-toe and trade bombs, but Albarado's left hook to the body sapped the energy out of his challenger, and Wajima began to fade. In round 11, a point was taken from Albarado for landing numerous punches on the belt line or below the belt line by referee Yusaku Yoshida. Wajima "rallied" in the fourteenth pinning Albarado to the ropes and firing away with a non-stop barrage in a final, desperate attempt to retain the title. But Wajima exhausted himself in that attempt, and was dropped three times in the final round to end the stirring brawl.
I remember reading about this fight in Boxing Illustrated back then. I hung on every fight of Wajima's...he was exciting as hell...winning and losing his title so many times.
Hi Red! My late friend and I wondered, so often, whether this guy was for real or a wannabe; he was always ranked but did he ever have a legitimate Championship fight?
He was the legit and unified 154lb champion throughout his first reign and was lineal for his next two reigns.
Hi Red! At the time, he was always ranked in the Jr. MW division which, at the time, didn't score a lot of points for me. He was tough but...I always wanted him to challenge at MW.
Truth be known ol' bud, K Wajima was one of my favorite fighters...I wish the free tv networks found it in themselves to televise his fights.
In retrospect I would have liked to see more of him; to date, I've only seen a brief tad of his scraps. I'll try youtubing.
