Tadashi Kuramochi: Japanese Light-Flyweight Title Challenger
Tadashi Kuramochi was a Japanese light-flyweight who won the 1982 All-Japan Rookie King tournament and later captured the Japanese title. In December 1984, he challenged WBC champion Jung-Koo Chang in Busan and lost a 12-round unanimous decision. Career record and title history · WBC account of the Chang title defense.
From Rookie King to Japanese Champion
Kuramochi turned professional in 1981 and built an early winning run in Japan’s light-flyweight division. He won the 1982 All-Japan Rookie King tournament, then continued to develop against domestic opponents. In August 1984, he stopped Kenji Hayabusa in the fourth round to win the vacant Japanese light-flyweight title. He later vacated the belt.
A World Title Challenge Against Jung-Koo Chang
On December 15, 1984, Kuramochi traveled to Busan to face South Korea’s Jung-Koo Chang for the WBC light-flyweight championship. Chang retained his title with a unanimous decision after 12 rounds. The WBC identifies the contest as a defense of its light-flyweight title; some secondary records misidentify the sanctioning body.
Career Record
The Japanese boxing record database lists Kuramochi at 12 wins, four losses and two draws, with five wins by knockout, across 18 bouts. After the Chang fight, he lost decisions to Kenji Ono in March 1985 and was stopped by Hideyuki Ohashi in August of that year. The available record lists no later professional bouts.
Kuramochi’s defining run was brief but included a national rookie tournament win, a Japanese championship and a challenge for a world title against one of the era’s leading light-flyweights.
Sources
Career records and reporting: boxrec.com.
Tags
Boxing, Boxing History
