Jiro Watanabe Built Successive WBA
Jiro Watanabe became WBA super flyweight champion against Rafael Pedroza on April 8, 1982. The Osaka southpaw later held the WBC championship in the same division.
The WBA championship years
Watanabe’s WBA reign lasted from April 1982 until July 1984 and included six successful defenses. His championship record included victories over Gustavo Ballas, Shoji Oguma and Soon Chun Kwon.
He subsequently won the WBC title from Payao Poontarat on July 5, 1984. His WBA championship ended by stripping that month.
The WBC reign
Watanabe made four successful WBC defenses and defeated Poontarat a second time during his career. Gilberto Román succeeded him as WBC champion on March 30, 1986.
Watanabe finished with twelve victories and two defeats in world championship contests, including seven wins by knockout. Across those title bouts he defeated eleven different opponents.
Before becoming champion, Watanabe lost a fifteen-round decision to WBC titleholder Chul-Ho Kim in South Korea in 1981. He rebuilt with four victories before meeting Pedroza. His later WBC defenses included an eleventh-round stoppage of Poontarat in their rematch and victories against Julio Soto Solano, Kazuo Katsuma and Suk-Hwan Yun. Those results sustained his second championship reign until the Román defeat, completing a title career that extended across four years and two sanctioning organizations.
Sources
- BoxRec: Watanabe’s successive championships, defenses and world-title record
- Boxing Meikan: Watanabe’s first challenge and championship defense results
