Rocky Lin: Boxing Career and Notable Fights

Rocky Lin was a Taiwanese minimumweight boxer who challenged WBC champion Ricardo López in Tokyo in 1992. His professional development took place largely in Japan, where his domestic championship success preceded the world-title opportunity.

Fight with Ricardo López

Lin faced López at Korakuen Hall on October 11, 1992, in a defense of López’s WBC minimumweight title. López stopped him by knockout at 1:46 of the second round. Contemporary reporting described Lin as a Taiwanese boxer; the detailed BoxRec bout record likewise lists the date, venue, title and result.

The result placed Lin in the record of one of the division’s prominent championship runs, but it was a loss rather than a victory over López. His earlier Japanese championship run included several successful defenses against domestic contenders before the move to world-level competition.

Further career results

Lin was born in Kaohsiung and developed his professional career in Japan. Before turning professional, he compiled 58 wins in 63 amateur contests, according to Asian Boxing’s career profile, and competed at the 1986 World Championships. His professional debut came in 1988, when he outpointed Hisashi Nakatomi over six rounds. By his third bout he was already boxing a scheduled ten-round contest against Norikazu Kawana. His first championship was the Japanese minimumweight title. Entering with six victories and no defeats, he stopped former champion Tatsuo Yogi in the opening round in 1990. He then made seven successful defenses in twenty-one months, including victories over Katsumi Komiyama, Yuichi Hosono and Shinichi Tamaki. That domestic run supplies the sporting background to his later challenge against López. Lin had already proved himself over repeated title defenses in Japan before facing the reigning WBC world champion in Tokyo; the world-title defeat was one part of a longer competitive career.

His amateur experience also included appearances at the Tammer Tournament in Tampere, Finland, before he entered Japan’s professional circuit.

Sources

Additional sources: https://www.asianboxing.info/features/rocky-lin-the-hero-of-taiwan

• BoxRec: Ricardo López vs. Rocky Lin (bout details)
• Los Angeles Times: 1992 report on López–Lin
• Asian Boxing: Rocky Lin, the Hero of Taiwan