Jaime Valladares: Ecuadorian Contender and Kobayashi Rival
Jaime Ernesto Valladares Egas was an Ecuadorian boxer from Quito who competed under the nickname “Chico de Oro.” His career included two meetings with Japan’s Hiroshi Kobayashi, one in Ecuador and a later world-title challenge in Tokyo. The title fight ended in defeat for Valladares, rather than a championship victory.
Career and championship record
Their first recorded meeting took place in Quito on May 14, 1966. It ended in a points draw. That contest was separate from the later fifteen-round championship bout, and its result helps explain why the pair appear together more than once in historical records. Valladares also drew with Carlos Teo Cruz in Quito in April 1966, adding another future world champion to his list of opponents.
On October 5, 1968, Valladares challenged Kobayashi at the Nippon Budokan in Tokyo. Kobayashi retained the WBA and WBC super-featherweight titles by unanimous decision after fifteen rounds. Valladares completed the scheduled championship distance, but the result did not transfer either belt. The WBA title-fight chronology records the bout as one of Kobayashi’s successful defenses.
Valladares’s wider record included extensive competition in Ecuador and Colombia. He defeated Don Johnson by corner retirement in Quito in February 1965 and Antonio Herrera by unanimous decision later that year. His 1968 results before the Japan trip included wins over Waldemiro Pinto, Victor Ramos, Germán Lomas and Paddy Read. These were separate contests in the buildup to the championship challenge, rather than defenses of a world title held by Valladares.
Later recorded opponents included Héctor Sánchez in Guayaquil in April 1969 and fellow Ecuadorian Ramiro Bolaños in Quito in December 1970; both contests ended in stoppage defeats. BoxRec records Valladares’s death on January 20, 2003, aged sixty-six. His place in the championship record rests on his challenge against Kobayashi, while the earlier draw and the wider regional schedule give that unsuccessful title attempt its competitive background.
Sources
Additional sources: https://boxrec.com/wiki/index.php/Jaime_Valladares; https://boxerlist.com/en/boxer/jaime-valladares/37714; https://boxrec.com/wiki/index.php/WBA_Super_Featherweight_Title_Fights
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