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.
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.
Kudo defended his title three times including against Korean contender Ho Joo, before losing to undefeated challenger Ayub Kalule by unanimous decision for his only professional loss. 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
ResultRecordOpponentTypeRoundDateLocationNotes24Loss23–1Ayub KaluleUD15Oct 24, 197923Win23–0Manuel Ricardo GonzalezTKO12 (15)Jun 20, 197922Win22–0Manuel Ricardo GonzalezMD15May 14, 197921Win21–0Ho JooSD15Dec 13, 197820Win20–0Eddie GazoSD15Aug 9, 197819Win19–0Katsuo EsashiPTS10May 2, 197818Win18–0Katsuo EsashiRTD3 (10)Oct 31, 197717Win17–0Peter NanbokuKO9 (10)Sep 6, 197716Win16–0Saburo SakaiKO7 (10)Jul 2, 197715Win15–0Yuichiro WatanabePTS10May 3, 197714Win14–0Saburo SakaiKO9 (10)Jan 30, 197713Win13–0Nessie HoriguchiPTS10Sep 26, 197612Win12–0Yuichiro WatanabeKO3 (10)Jun 27, 197611Win11–0Saburo SakaiKO1 (10)Mar 28, 197610Win10–0Takeshi IzumiKO4 (10)Jan 27, 19769Win9–0Yuji MiyagoshiUD10Nov 30, 19758Win8–0Yuji MiyagoshiPTS10Jul 18, 19757Win7–0Takeshi WatanabePTS10Jun 1, 19756Win6–0Nobuyoshi OzakiPTS10Mar 2, 19755Win5–0Cassius NaitoPTS10Jul 29, 19744Win4–0Seiji NagaiKO4 (4)Dec 27, 19733Win3–0Hachiro KuroishiKO2 (4)Dec 3, 19732Win2–0Keiji MiyawakiKO3 (4)Sep 30, 19731Win1–0Toshio OkiRTD3 (4)May 18, 1973
See also List of world light-middleweight boxing champions List of Japanese boxing world champions Boxing in Japan
References
External links
Masashi Kudo - CBZ Profile