Masao Oba
Courtesy of boxrec.com
Not many fighters manage to claim a title a day after their 21st birthday and hold that belt until the end of their career but unfortunately that's what the tragic Masao Oba (35-2-1, 16) did in the early 1970's when his career was cut short by a fatal accident.
Known affectionately as "the eternal champion" Oba is a fighter who left us with more questions than answers due to his untimely death in 1973, though what he did before then was nothing short of fantastic.
Born in to a poor family in 1949 in Tokyo, Oba knew he'd always have to do something notable to be remembered and to help change the fortunes of his family. As with many top fighters, boxing seemed to be his way out of poverty and whilst still a child Oba knew that was going to be his route.
As a teenager Oba walked in to the famous Tokyo Teiken Gym and despite being a diminutive kid he excelled with natural desire and talent that allowed his trainers to develop his boxing whilst he developed in a man.
Just weeks after Oba turned 17 he would begin his professional career and make a statement stopping fellow debutant Kazuyoshi Watanabe in just 48 seconds. Despite only being a youngster it was obvious from his victory over Watanabe that Oba was a prodigious talent and his handlers swiftly got him back in the ring with him scoring 2 more early victories in successive months,
Known affectionately as "the eternal champion" Oba is a fighter who left us with more questions than answers due to his untimely death in 1973, though what he did before then was nothing short of fantastic.
Born in to a poor family in 1949 in Tokyo, Oba knew he'd always have to do something notable to be remembered and to help change the fortunes of his family. As with many top fighters, boxing seemed to be his way out of poverty and whilst still a child Oba knew that was going to be his route.
As a teenager Oba walked in to the famous Tokyo Teiken Gym and despite being a diminutive kid he excelled with natural desire and talent that allowed his trainers to develop his boxing whilst he developed in a man.
Just weeks after Oba turned 17 he would begin his professional career and make a statement stopping fellow debutant Kazuyoshi Watanabe in just 48 seconds. Despite only being a youngster it was obvious from his victory over Watanabe that Oba was a prodigious talent and his handlers swiftly got him back in the ring with him scoring 2 more early victories in successive months,
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By the start of May 1967 Oba had amassed 6 victories in as many months with 4 of those victories coming inside the distance. It was then that his winning run would come to an end thanks to Masakazu Tani who took a 4 round decision over Oba to inflict the first defeat on the youngster.
Oba would bounce back well from his first defeat and win 10 of his next 11 contests to move to 16-1-1, with a draw against Snappy Asano (who would late become the Japanese Super Bantamweight champion) being the only blotch in that 11 fight run. Less than 2 years after beginning his professional campaign Oba would move in to bouts scheduled for 10 rounds. It was in his first 10 round bout that he suffered his second (and what would be his final) defeat thanks to a decision loss to the much more experienced Susumu Hanagata (who went on to claim the WBA Flyweight title in 1974). Despite losing to Hanagata in September 1968 Oba would return to the ring just weeks later and defeat Yuzo Narumi, swiftly putting the loss behind him and by the end of the year he had scored another victory to move to 18-2-1. In 1969 Oba moved up a class and started the year off by beating the then Japanese Flyweight champion Speedy Hayase. The victory over Hayase was swiftly followed by a decision over former national champion Yoshiaki Matsumoto and a win over the then OPBF champion Tsuyoshi Nakamura as Oba raced up the rankings in impressive fashion. With the rise up the rankings Oba was put in to a none title bout with the then WBA Flyweight champion Bernabe Villacampo and surprisingly Oba managed to defeat Villacampo as he positioned himself as arguably the top challenger for the belt. Sadly for Oba he failed to secure a rematch with Villacampo for the belt and instead it was left to Thai Berkrerk Chartvanchai to dethrone Villacampo (in what was a thrilling contest). Just 6 months after Chartvanchai had beaten Villacampo, Oba finally got his chance to fight for the belt that some thought he had already deserved. Having gotten his chance Oba took it with both hands and fought beautifully countering the champion who was cut in the 6th round before being stopped in round 13 after 2 knockdowns. Oba would make the first defense of his belt 6 months after he had won it, though he would have to go through an incredibly gallant challenge of Betulio Gonzalez of Venezuela. Despite the bout being in Oba's native Japan many in the arena booed the decision to award Oba the victory with Gonzalez certainly winning over the crowd in a hotly contested bout. The victory over Gonzalez was followed up by 2 non-title bouts for Oba who appeared ready to leave the Flyweight division that was obviously draining him to make. Sadly with their being no Super Flyweight division back in the early 1970's Oba had to either drain himself to make 112 or give away notable size to make 118, so he continued to make title defenses at 112lbs. The second world title defense for Oba came against Filipino Fernando Cabanela and would be a highly impressive performance by Oba who boxed beautifully with crisp clean shots landing almost at will on his wild opponent. Although Oba was cut he was the clear winner winning pretty much every round on all 3 cards. Oba would then avenge his loss to Hanagata as he defended his title for a 3rd time and further enhanced his reputation as one of the top fighters in the division. Sadly after the victory over Hanagata, Oba would fight just thrice more, defending his title twice. The first of those defenses saw Oba defeating Orlando Amores (KO5) in a thrilling bout which saw both men dropped before Oba managed to stop his opponent, and the second saw Oba come from the brink of defeat in the opening round to stop Chartchai Chionoi at the end of round 12 in a genuine thriller (that can be seen below) Just weeks after the victory over Chionoi the boxing world was struck by the death of Oba who had crashed in to a truck. The champion, aged just 23 had left his mark on the boxing world and in the hearts of Japanese boxing fans who still talk about "what could have been?" Whilst we'll never know for sure, what seems likely is that Oba, who had been really struggling at Flyweight by the time of his death, would have vacated the title to move up to Bantamweight and possibly even Super Bantamweight before the end of his career had it not been cut so short. The video below shows the final bout of Oba's career and also shows off a number of the traits that he's best known for including his heart, recovery, bravery, speed and finishing instincts. The bout, a bit of a forgotten classic really has it all yet probably showed a sub 100% Oba due to the issues he had at making 112lbs at this point in his career. The video is thanks to YeahJustLikeChuckie and is a must watch for fight fans around the world. |
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