Koichi Wajima boxer

Koichi Wajima (輪島 功一, born 21 April 1943) is a Japanese former professional boxer who was the undisputed super-welterweight champion. He held the WBA and WBC titles between October 1971 and June 1974, he regained the titles on January 1975 that included The Ring title but lost it right away on June of the same year. He once again won the WBA and The Ring title and held it from February to May 1976.Wajima was born in Karafuto, (current Sakhalin) which became Soviet territory when Wajima was three years old. He and his family moved to Shibetsu, Hokkaidō, but barely managed to make a living, Wajima was put up for adoption. He lived with his stepfamily while his parents worked in Shibetsu.citation neededWajima began to work as a fisherman with his stepfamily. He was still in middle school, but had to work from sunset all the way to daybreak. The only time he had to sleep was during class. He was a fighter from a young age, having to work tirelessly each day, and often picking fights with other kids.After graduating from middle school, he traveled to Tokyo, where he worked briefly as a truck driver before joining the Misako Boxing Gym. He made his professional debut in March, 1968, at the age of 25.Wajima captured the Japanese super welterweight title in September, 1969. He defended the title 9 times before returning it. He got his first shot at the world title against Carmelo Bossi for the world light middleweight title on October 31, 1971 in Tokyo, winning by 15-round split decision to capture his first world title. He made his first defense in May, 1972, taking less than 2 minutes to knock out his opponent. He would defend the title a total of 6 times. He quickly became one of the most popular boxers in Japan for his peculiar "Frog Jump" uppercut punch.He lost his 7th defense to Oscar Albarado in 1974 by KO in the 15th round. He got a rematch with Albarado 7 months later, on January 21, 1975, and managed to avenge his loss with a 15-round decision win to regain the Lineal, WBC and WBA titles. He was stripped of the WBC title in March, and lost to Jae-Doo Yuh to lose his Lineal and WBA light middleweight titles as well. However, he regained his Lineal and WBA titles in February, 1976, with a 15th round KO over Yuh.