Greetings to all boxing fans. In this column we are going to talk about another Japanese boxer who had less than 30 fights and this was enough to become World Champion. This time we will mention Jiro Watanabe. Watanabe was born on March 16, 1955 in Okuyama, Japan. He is a former professional boxer who was world champion at super flyweight and one of the first in that division when it was new to boxing.
Watanabe was a very strong southpaw, with a hard punch in both hands and was very good at throwing fast and accurate combinations. He moved quite well, in particular he had great mobility, he was very fast in his attack and when throwing his punches. Before starting boxing, Watanabe did martial arts, training in Shotokan, a style of karate. He later decided to change karate for boxing and become a professional in this discipline.
He debuted as a professional on March 27, 1979, defeating his compatriot Kiezo Miyazaki by KO in the third round. He won his next nine fights, six of them by KO. On April 22, 1981, he challenged South Korea's Chul Ho Kim for the WBC super flyweight world championship in South Korea. He lost to a tight UD in 15 rounds. He bounced back from that loss, winning four fights, three of them by KO.
On April 8, 1982, he challenged Rafael Pedroza for the WBA super flyweight world championship. He beat Pedroza for UD to become world champion. He defended this world championship six times, with four wins by KO. His triumphs include victories against former world champions Gustavo Ballas and Japan's Shoji Oguma. On July 5, 1984, he fought Thai Payao Poontarat for the WBC super flyweight world championship. Watanabe had been stripped of the WBA championship before the fight for trying to unify against Poontarat.
Despite this he beat Poontarat by SD. He defended the WBC championship four times, winning three by KO. On March 30, 1986, he lost the championship when he was defeated by UD against the Mexican Gilberto Román. After that fight, he retired from boxing. He had 28 professional fights, winning 26 and losing only 2, [26 (17KO) -2]. After boxing, he became a member of the Yakuza, the notorious Japanese mafia, and has gotten into some legal trouble.