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Masashi Kudo (工藤 政志, Kudō Masashi, born August 24, 1951) is a Japanese former professional boxer who competed from 1973 to 1979. He held the WBA and lineal super welterweight titles from 1978 to 1979.

Masashi Kudo
Statistics
Weight(s)	Light middleweight Middleweight
Height	5 ft 8 in (173 cm)
Nationality	Japanese
Born	(1951-08-24) August 24, 1951 (age 71) Gojōme, Akita, Japan
Stance	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	24
Wins	23
Wins by KO	12
Losses	1

Biography

Kudo was an amateur wrestler during high school, and only became a professional boxer when he failed to join the Japanese Olympic wrestling team for the 1972 Munich Olympics. He made his professional debut in May, 1973, and won the Japanese middleweight title in his 6th professional fight. He defended the title 8 times before returning it to Japanese Boxing Commission.

In 1978, he moved down to the light middleweight division to challenge Eddie Gazo for the WBA and lineal light middleweight titles. Kudo won by 15 round split-decision, becoming the second Japanese boxer to capture the world light middleweight crown since Koichi Wajima.[1]

Kudo defended his title three times including against Korean contender Ho Joo,[2] before losing to undefeated challenger Ayub Kalule by unanimous decision for his only professional loss.[3] He announced his retirement after the fight at only 28 years of age. His record was 23-1-0 (12KOs).

Kudo was possibly one of the least technically skilled champions in boxing history. He compensated for his lack of skill by displaying an enormous amount of stamina and strength, and retired without suffering a single knockdown.

Professional boxing record

24 fights	23 wins	1 loss
By knockout	12	0
By decision	11	1

No.	Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round	Date	Location	Notes
24	Loss	23–1	Ayub Kalule	UD	15	Oct 24, 1979	City Gymnasium, Akita City, Akita, Japan	Lost WBA and The Ring light-middleweight titles
23	Win	23–0	Manuel Ricardo Gonzalez	TKO	12 (15)	Jun 20, 1979	City Gymnasium, Yokkaichi, Mie, Japan	Retained WBA and The Ring light-middleweight titles
22	Win	22–0	Manuel Ricardo Gonzalez	MD	15	May 14, 1979	Ryōgoku Kokugikan, Tokyo, Japan	Retained WBA and The Ring light-middleweight titles
21	Win	21–0	Ho Joo	SD	15	Dec 13, 1978	Prefectural Gymnasium, Osaka, Japan	Retained WBA and The Ring light-middleweight titles
20	Win	20–0	Eddie Gazo	SD	15	Aug 9, 1978	City Gymnasium, Akita City, Akita, Japan	Won WBA and The Ring light-middleweight titles
19	Win	19–0	Katsuo Esashi	PTS	10	May 2, 1978	Japan	Retained Japanese middleweight title
18	Win	18–0	Katsuo Esashi	RTD	3 (10)	Oct 31, 1977	Japan
17	Win	17–0	Peter Nanboku	KO	9 (10)	Sep 6, 1977	Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan	Retained Japanese middleweight title
16	Win	16–0	Saburo Sakai	KO	7 (10)	Jul 2, 1977	Kumagaya, Japan
15	Win	15–0	Yuichiro Watanabe	PTS	10	May 3, 1977	Japan	Retained Japanese middleweight title
14	Win	14–0	Saburo Sakai	KO	9 (10)	Jan 30, 1977	Nippon Budokan, Tokyo, Japan	Retained Japanese middleweight title
13	Win	13–0	Nessie Horiguchi	PTS	10	Sep 26, 1976	Japan
12	Win	12–0	Yuichiro Watanabe	KO	3 (10)	Jun 27, 1976	Japan	Retained Japanese middleweight title
11	Win	11–0	Saburo Sakai	KO	1 (10)	Mar 28, 1976	Japan
10	Win	10–0	Takeshi Izumi	KO	4 (10)	Jan 27, 1976	Okinawa, Japan	Retained Japanese middleweight title
9	Win	9–0	Yuji Miyagoshi	UD	10	Nov 30, 1975	Japan	Retained Japanese middleweight title
8	Win	8–0	Yuji Miyagoshi	PTS	10	Jul 18, 1975	Japan	Retained Japanese middleweight title
7	Win	7–0	Takeshi Watanabe	PTS	10	Jun 1, 1975	Japan
6	Win	6–0	Nobuyoshi Ozaki	PTS	10	Mar 2, 1975	Japan	Won vacant Japanese middleweight title
5	Win	5–0	Cassius Naito	PTS	10	Jul 29, 1974	Gifu, Japan
4	Win	4–0	Seiji Nagai	KO	4 (4)	Dec 27, 1973	Japan
3	Win	3–0	Hachiro Kuroishi	KO	2 (4)	Dec 3, 1973	Japan
2	Win	2–0	Keiji Miyawaki	KO	3 (4)	Sep 30, 1973	Japan
1	Win	1–0	Toshio Oki	RTD	3 (4)	May 18, 1973	Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan

See also

• List of world light-middleweight boxing champions
• List of Japanese boxing world champions
• Boxing in Japan

References

External links

• Boxing record for Masashi Kudo from BoxRec (registration required)
• Masashi Kudo - CBZ Profile

Sporting positions
Regional boxing titles
Vacant Title last held by Steven Smith	Japanese middleweight champion March 2, 1975 – 1978 Vacated	Vacant Title next held by Katsuo Esashi
World boxing titles
Preceded by Eddie Gazo	WBA super welterweight champion August 9, 1978 – October 24, 1979	Succeeded by Ayub Kalule
	The Ring super welterweight champion August 9, 1978 – October 24, 1979

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