Royal Kobayashi

Japanese boxer (born 1949)
  • Super bantamweight
  • Featherweight
Height5 ft 5+1⁄2 in (166 cm)StanceOrthodox Boxing recordTotal fights43Wins35Wins by KO27Losses8

Kazuo Kobayashi (小林 和男[1], Kobayashi Kazuo, born October 10, 1949 – November 17, 2020), better known as Royal Kobayashi, was a Japanese boxer who competed at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games in the featherweight division, and won the WBC junior featherweight titles in 1976. He is an alumnus of the Takushoku University.[2]

Amateur career

Kobayashi who had practiced kendo until high school graduation, began boxing after admission to the Physical Training School of the Self Defense Forces.[3][4] He won the All-Japan Amateur Boxing Championships in the featherweight division in 1971 and 1972.[4]

Kobayashi represented Japan at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. In the second round match against Pat Ryan, Kobayashi knocked him down thrice, badly damaged his face, and won by a 4–1 decision. Beaver County Times called the one vote against Kobayashi "the most ridiculous decision (vote) of the night".[5] Kobayashi then knocked out Italy's Pasqualino Morbidelli in one round, before losing 1–4 to András Botos in the quarterfinals. He compiled an amateur record of 34–3 (28 KOs)[1] before turning professional.

Professional career

Since Kobayashi was an amateur boxer, he was said to be suitable for professional for his hard punches. In 1973, Kobayashi ran into Yoshinori Takahashi who is the president of Kokusai Boxing Sports Gym established in Tokyo in 1971 at a sports massage clinic, and was encouraged to turn professional.[6]

Kobayashi made his professional debut under the ring name Royal Kobayashi in an eight-round bout in February 1973. His first world title shot against WBA featherweight champion Alexis Argüello ended in a fifth round knockout loss,[7] in front of 16,000 spectators at the Kuramae Kokugikan in Tokyo in October 1975. After the fight, Kobayashi stated that he felt as if he had been beaten with a chunk of ice.[8] In February 1976, he made an expedition to Panama,[9] and lost on points there.

On October 9, 1976, Kobayashi moved down a weight class and dethroned Rigoberto Riasco as the WBC and lineal junior featherweight champion while being watched by 9,000 spectators at the Kuramae Kokugikan.[10] He floored Riasco once with his left hook in the seventh round, and twice with his right hooks in the eighth round.[11][12] However, he lost the title in his first defense against Dong-Kyun Yum via a majority decision at the Jangchung Gymnasium in Seoul, South Korea, on November 24 of that year.[13][14] In January 1978, Kobayashi challenged Wilfredo Gómez to regain the WBC junior featherweight title in front of 10,000 spectators[14] at the Kitakyūshū Municipal Gymnasium in Fukuoka, but was knocked out in the third round.[15]

Kobayashi went back to the featherweight division, and captured the OPBF title in April 1978. After defending that title once, he fought against Eusebio Pedroza for the WBA featherweight title at the Korakuen Hall in January 1979. However he quit after thirteen rounds with his face swollen by a barrage of blows in the eighth round.[16] Kobayashi defended the OPBF title seven times in total, for about two and a half years. In his eighth defense in October 1981, he suffered a first round knockout loss and retired as a boxer. His manager Takahashi later told that he realized the importance of short punches when Kobayashi lost to Pedroza and when he brought up Leopard Tamakuma to be a world champion he taught it to him thoroughly.[6]

Professional boxing record

43 fights 35 wins 8 losses
By knockout 27 4
By decision 8 4
No. Result Record Opponent Type Round, time Date Location Notes
43 Loss 35–8 Jung Han Hwang KO 1 (12) 1981-10-18 Munhwa Gymnasium, Seoul, South Korea Lost OPBF featherweight title
42 Loss 35–7 Young Se Oh UD 12 (12) 1981-09-06 Munhwa Gymnasium, Seoul, South Korea
41 Win 35–6 Dae Hwan Lee PTS 12 (12) 1981-05-19 Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan Retained OPBF featherweight title
40 Win 34–6 Koichi Matsushima KO 8 (12) 1981-01-25 Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan Retained OPBF featherweight title
39 Win 33–6 Dae Hwan Lee SD 12 (12) 1980-08-19 Japan Retained OPBF featherweight title
38 Win 32–6 Takao Maruki KO 6 (12) 1980-06-09 Nagoya, Japan Retained OPBF featherweight title
37 Win 31–6 Masa Ito KO 7 (10) 1980-02-24 City Gymnasium, Hofu, Japan
36 Win 30–6 Kashi Keno KO 6 (10) 1979-12-20 Japan
35 Win 29–6 Suk Tae Yun UD 12 (12) 1979-10-28 Aomori City, Japan Retained OPBF featherweight title
34 Win 28–6 Chong Yun Lee KO 5 (10) 1979-09-08 Seoul, South Korea
33 Loss 27–6 Hikaru Tomonari MD 10 (10) 1979-07-26 Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
32 Win 27–5 Bok Soo Hwang PTS 12 (12) 1979-04-27 Kumamoto, Japan Retained OPBF featherweight title
31 Loss 26–5 Eusebio Pedroza RTD 13 (15) 1979-01-09 Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan For WBA featherweight title
30 Win 26–4 Spider Nemoto SD 12 (12) 1978-08-06 Japan Retained OPBF featherweight title
29 Win 25–4 Bok Soo Hwang TKO 10 (12) 1978-04-27 Japan Won OPBF featherweight title
28 Loss 24–4 Wilfredo Gómez KO 3 (15) 1978-01-19 Municipal Gymnasium, Kitakyushu, Japan For WBC super bantamweight title
27 Win 24–3 Satoshi Nakai TKO 1 (10) 1977-11-03 Japan
26 Win 23–3 Shigeru Sasaki KO 1 (10) 1977-05-23 Japan
25 Win 22–3 Blazer Okubo KO 7 (10) 1977-02-08 Ōtsu, Japan
24 Loss 21–3 Yum Dong-kyun MD 15 (15) 1976-11-24 Jangchung Gymnasium, Seoul, South Korea Lost WBC super bantamweight title
23 Win 21–2 Rigoberto Riasco KO 8 (15) 1976-10-09 Kuramae Kokugikan, Tokyo, Japan Won WBC super bantamweight title
22 Win 20–2 Jaguar Sekino TKO 5 (10) 1976-07-10 Japan
21 Loss 19–2 Emilio Salcedo UD 10 (10) 1976-02-15 Feria de David, David, Panama
20 Win 19–1 Ushiwakamaru Harada PTS 10 (10) 1975-12-21 Japan
19 Loss 18–1 Alexis Argüello KO 5 (15) 1975-10-12 Kuramae Kokugikan, Tokyo, Japan For WBA & The Ring featherweight titles
18 Win 18–0 Hwa Ryong Yuh KO 4 (10) 1975-06-16 Japan
17 Win 17–0 Zensuke Utagawa KO 2 (12) 1975-05-09 Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
16 Win 16–0 Jun Gallego KO 9 (10) 1975-04-04 Sendai, Japan
15 Win 15–0 Masanao Toyoshima KO 6 (10) 1975-02-17 Japan
14 Win 14–0 Sanjo Takemori KO 2 (10) 1974-12-30 Japan
13 Win 13–0 Bert Nabalatan UD 10 (10) 1974-09-16 Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
12 Win 12–0 Ryu Fukita KO 4 (10) 1974-09-05 Osaka, Japan
11 Win 11–0 Freddie Mensah KO 7 (10) 1974-08-04 Japan
10 Win 10–0 José Medel RTD 6 (10) 1974-06-09 Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
9 Win 9–0 Sung Jong Hong KO 3 (10) 1974-03-17 Japan
8 Win 8–0 Hiroshi Nunose KO 4 (10) 1974-02-01 Japan
7 Win 7–0 Jaguar Sekino KO 2 (10) 1973-11-23 Japan
6 Win 6–0 Nam Chul Chung KO 5 (10) 1973-10-19 Japan
5 Win 5–0 Katsutoshi Inuzuka KO 5 (10) 1973-09-07 Japan
4 Win 4–0 Victor Dounue KO 7 (10) 1973-07-21 Kumamoto, Japan
3 Win 3–0 Hiroshi Miura KO 2 (10) 1973-06-15 Japan
2 Win 2–0 Gypsy Sato KO 2 (8) 1973-04-27 Japan
1 Win 1–0 Baron Kumazawa PTS 8 (8) 1973-02-25 Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan

Later life & death

After retiring in 1981 with a record of 35-8 (27 KOs), Kobayashi worked as a trainer at the Yokohama Hikari Gym. He returned to his hometown of Kumamoto & worked as a security guard until his passing in 2020.[17][18]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Baseball Magazine Sha 2002, p. 295.
  2. ^ Takahashi & Ashizawa 1993, p. 25
  3. ^ Takahashi & Ashizawa 1993, p. 80
  4. ^ a b Boxing Magazine editorial department, ed. (March 1, 2004). "ロイヤル小林". 日本プロボクシングチャンピオン大鑑 (in Japanese). Tokyo, Japan: Baseball Magazine Sha Co., Ltd. p. 41. ISBN 978-4-583-03784-4.
  5. ^ Mike Rabun (UPI) (August 30, 1972). "Decisions 'Disgusting': Officials On Hot Seat". Beaver County Times. p. D-2. Retrieved September 8, 2011.
  6. ^ a b Jun'ichi Hirata; et al. (January 15, 2000). "名伯楽は語る〜世界王者育成秘話〜". In Boxing Magazine editorial department (ed.). The Glorious Moments 究極の栄光・世界チャンピオン名鑑 – 日本ボクシング史に輝く41人の男たち. B.B.mook; 117, sports series; No.72 (in Japanese). Tokyo, Japan: Baseball Magazine Sha Co., Ltd. p. 108. ISBN 978-4-583-61076-4.
  7. ^ UPI (October 14, 1975). "Arguello keeps feather crown". The Gazette. p. 24. Retrieved September 8, 2011.
  8. ^ Baseball Magazine Sha 2002, p. 196.
  9. ^ Takahashi & Ashizawa 1993, p. 81
  10. ^ "Royal Kobayashi - Lineal Jr. Featherweight Champion". The Cyber Boxing Zone Encyclopedia.
  11. ^ "Sports Briefs". Tri-City Herald. October 10, 1976. p. 23. Retrieved September 8, 2011.
  12. ^ Baseball Magazine Sha 2002, p. 172.
  13. ^ AP (November 24, 1976). "Dong-Kyun Winner In Title Go". Reading Eagle. p. 37. Retrieved September 8, 2011.
  14. ^ a b Baseball Magazine Sha 2002, p. 173.
  15. ^ AP (January 20, 1978). "Gomez retains title". The StarPhoenix. p. 9. Retrieved September 8, 2011.
  16. ^ Baseball Magazine Sha 2002, p. 198.
  17. ^ "Requiem to former WBC-122Lb. champ Royal Kobayashi". World Boxing Council. Retrieved 2024-03-08.
  18. ^ "FORMER WBC 122-POUND TITLEHOLDER KAZUO 'ROYAL' KOBAYASHI DEAD AT 71". The Ring. Retrieved 2024-03-08.

Bibliography

  • Boxing Magazine editorial department, ed. (May 31, 2002). 日本プロボクシング史 世界タイトルマッチで見る50年 (Japan Pro Boxing History – 50 Years of World Title Bouts) (in Japanese). Tokyo, Japan: Baseball Magazine Sha Co., Ltd. pp. 172–173, 196, 198, 295. ISBN 978-4-583-03695-3.
  • Takahashi, Takashi; Ashizawa, Seiichi (June 1993). ボクシング写真画報. World Boxing (in Japanese) (special issue). Tokyo, Japan: Nippon Sports Publishing Co., Ltd.: 25, 80–81.

External links

  • Boxing record for Royal Kobayashi from BoxRec (registration required)
  • Royal Kobayashi at Olympedia Edit this at Wikidata
Sporting positions
Regional boxing titles
Preceded by
Bok Soo Hwang
 OPBF featherweight champion
April 27, 1978 – October 18, 1981 		Succeeded by
Jung Han Hwang
World boxing titles
Preceded by WBC super bantamweight champion
October 9, 1976 – November 24, 1976 		Succeeded by