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Katsuya Onizuka

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Katsuya Onizuka
鬼塚 勝也
Born
Takashi Onizuka

(1970-03-12) March 12, 1970 (age 54)
Kitakyushu, Fukuoka, Japan
NationalityJapanese
Other namesSpanky-K
Statistics
Weight(s)Super flyweight
Height5 ft 8 in (173 cm)
StanceOrthodox
Boxing record
Total fights25
Wins24
Wins by KO17
Losses1

Katsuya Onizuka (鬼塚 勝也, Onizuka Katsuya, born Takashi Onizuka; March 12, 1970) is a former WBA Super Flyweight champion from Kitakyushu, Japan. Onizuka was an extremely popular boxer in Japan, creating a boxing boom in Japan during the early 1990s along with Joichiro Tatsuyoshi.

Biography

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Onizuka began boxing in middle school, entering a local boxing gym to begin training. He won several high amateur boxing tournaments in high school, but lost a match in his senior year against Hiroshi Kawashima, who would later win the WBC Super Flyweight title. Onizuka had already been accepted to Kinki University, but decided to turn pro after being battered in a sparring session with Hiroki Ioka, who had just become the WBC Minimumweight champion. He entered the Kyoei boxing gym in Tokyo, and made his professional debut in 1988 as a flyweight.

Onizuka quickly built up his record, and won the Japanese Super Flweight title in October, 1990, which he defended three times before moving on to challenge the world title. His first world title match came in April, 1992, fighting Thanomsak Sithbaobay for the WBA Super Flyweight title, which had been vacated by legendary Thai boxer Khaosai Galaxy. Onizuka won a close 12-round decision, the first of the series of controversial wins in his career. Akinobu Hiranaka also won the WBA Super Lightweight title in Mexico the same day.

He defended his title for the first time on September 11, 1992, winning by TKO in the 5th round. This would be his only non-decision win in world title fights. He fought Mexican fighter Armando Castro three months later for his second defense, and won an indisputable victory. This fight was the height of Onizuka's career.

Onizuka's third defense came on May 21, 1993, against Korean fighter Jae-Shin Lim, who had previously fought with the alias, "Kotaro Hayashi." Onizuka was predicted to win easily, but the challenger pummeled Onizuka throughout the fight, and Onizuka barely won by split decision. Two of the three judges of the fight were Japanese, and had both scored the bout in favor of Onizuka, making the fight one of the worst and most obvious cases of a hometown decision.

After his controversial fight, Onizuka fought Thanomsak Sithbaobay for the second time, and made his fourth defense by another close 12-round decision.[1] He made a fifth successful defense by 12-round decision on April 10, 1994, despite having been knocked down for the first time in his professional career in the 5th round. Onizuka finally lost in his sixth defense on September 18, 1994, against Lee Hyung-chul no.1 WBA challenger, where he was trapped in the corner and beaten relentlessly for over a minute by the challenger. The referee finally stopped the fight in the 9th round, and Onizuka lost his title after two years of controversial defences. He was found to have a detached retina in the right eye after the fight, and announced his retirement. Onizuka explained that he had actually suspected an injury in his right eye over two years ago, but had kept it to himself to avoid being forced into retirement. His record was 24-1-0 (17KOs).

Professional boxing record

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25 fights 24 wins 1 loss
By knockout 17 1
By decision 7 0
No. Result Record Opponent Type Round, time Date Location Notes
25 Loss 24–1 Lee Hyung-chul TKO 9 (12) 1994-09-18 Yoyogi National Gymnasium, Tokyo, Japan Lost WBA super flyweight title
24 Win 24–0 Seung Koo Lee UD 12 (12) 1994-04-03 Kokugikan, Tokyo, Japan Retained WBA super flyweight title
23 Win 23–0 Thanomsak Sithbaobay UD 12 (12) 1993-11-05 Ariake Coliseum, Tokyo, Japan Retained WBA super flyweight title
22 Win 22–0 Jae Shin Lim SD 12 (12) 1993-05-21 Nippon Budokan, Tokyo, Japan Retained WBA super flyweight title
21 Win 21–0 Armando Castro UD 12 (12) 1992-12-11 Ariake Coliseum, Tokyo, Japan Retained WBA super flyweight title
20 Win 20–0 Kenji Matsumura TKO 5 (12) 1992-09-11 Nippon Budokan, Tokyo, Japan Retained WBA super flyweight title
19 Win 19–0 Thanomsak Sithbaobay UD 12 (12) 1992-04-10 Metropolitan Gym, Tokyo, Japan Won vacant WBA super flyweight title
18 Win 18–0 Chan Woo Park TKO 7 (10) 1991-11-04 Nishi Nihon Sogo Hall, Kitakyushu, Japan
17 Win 17–0 Suzuharu Kitazawa KO 5 (10) 1991-06-17 Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan Retained Japanese super flyweight title
16 Win 16–0 Shunichi Nakajima PTS 10 (10) 1991-03-18 Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan Retained Japanese super flyweight title
15 Win 15–0 Tomohiko Yokoyama KO 1 (10) 1990-12-17 Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan Retained Japanese super flyweight title
14 Win 14–0 Shunichi Nakajima TKO 10 (10) 1990-10-15 Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan Won Japanese super flyweight title
13 Win 13–0 Tatsuya Sugi TKO 7 (10) 1990-05-22 City Hall, Hōfu, Japan
12 Win 12–0 Rex Rapiso KO 1 (10) 1990-03-19 Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
11 Win 11–0 Kyung Min Ahn KO 1 (10) 1989-12-18 Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
10 Win 10–0 Dok Hyun Kim KO 5 (10) 1989-10-16 Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
9 Win 9–0 Sang Won Lee KO 4 (10) 1989-08-21 Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
8 Win 8–0 Masao Kawanishi KO 2 (8) 1989-05-15 Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
7 Win 7–0 Yutaka Sakamoto KO 2 (6) 1989-02-27 Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
6 Win 6–0 Mitsumasa Ikeda PTS 6 (6) 1988-12-21 Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
5 Win 5–0 Ryoji Take KO 3 (4) 1988-11-09 Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
4 Win 4–0 Tetsuya Esu KO 3 (4) 1988-09-19 Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
3 Win 3–0 Shigeru Ito KO 1 (4) 1988-07-18 Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
2 Win 2–0 Satoshi Kada KO 1 (4) 1988-06-20 Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
1 Win 1–0 Shoji Akiyama KO 1 (4) 1988-04-18 Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan

Post retirement

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Onizuka lived away from boxing for a while after retirement, but now trains young boxers at his boxing gym in his hometown, Fukuoka. He often appears on TBS boxing broadcasts as a commentator. Fans were reminded of Onizuka's controversial wins when Koki Kameda won a hometown decision to become the WBA Light Flyweight champion in 2006. Both Kameda and Onizuka were trained and managed by the Kyoei boxing gym, and Onizuka has appeared as a commentator in several of Kameda's fights. Onizuka also endorsed a SNES video game, Onizuka Katsuya Super Virtual Boxing.[2]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Bo Jackson Becomes Free Agent". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2023-12-26.
  2. ^ "Onizuka Katsuya Super Virtual Boxing". Giant Bomb. Retrieved 2023-12-26.
[edit]
Sporting positions
Regional boxing titles
Preceded by
Shunichi Nakajima
Japanese super flyweight champion
October 15, 1990 – 1991
Vacated
Vacant
Title next held by
Suzuharu Kitazawa
World boxing titles
Vacant
Title last held by
Khaosai Galaxy
WBA super flyweight champion
April 10, 1992 – September 18, 1994
Succeeded by