Bald boxer loses wig but battles back to win fight, hearts, even hair

Featherweight boxer Masayuki Koguchi found himself in a pretty hairy situation during his last fight as his opponent pummeled him so viciously, it knocked his wig off.

Koguchi gave his hairpiece a hurl, and the toupee-less terror found national fame when he followed the reverse path of Biblical hero Samson and came back to win an 8-round bout in a TKO against 31-year-old pugilist, Daichi Shibata.

But now, four months later and with a re-match set against Shibata following complaints that the hairpiece adversely affected the result, 28-year-old follicly challenged fighter Koguchi has experienced a miracle that will ensure he'll never have to go through the embarrassment of having his wig knocked off ever again, according to Shukan Gendai.

The miracle, the men's weekly notes, is that Koguchi's hair has started growing back.

Rather than actually benefiting from any act of God, the Wig Boxer, as Koguchi has become known throughout Japan, has since March been acting as a monitor for a product called Momani, a herbal based hair restoration treatment. A spokesman for the company elaborates.

"He's only been a monitor for just under a month so the results aren't immediately obvious, but if you check his scalp under a microscope, you'll find that his hair has already started growing back," the spokesman tells Shukan Gendai.

"When we first looked at his scalp, we found that the production of hair on Koguchi's head was very weak.

Now, he's got two or three hairs that have taken root and grown up thick and strong. If we wait another month, you'll probably be able to tell with your own eyes that his hair is growing back."

The Wig Boxer himself acknowledges the effects of his follicle fixer.

"Well, I've only been using it for three weeks, this is my fourth week. But my blood circulation has improved and I can feel my hair has gotten better. It really feels like my hair is growing back," Koguchi tells Shukan Gendai.

Koguchi tells the men's weekly that he started going bald at 23, and began wearing a wig, even in the ring, because he felt his baldness made him less attractive among women. He's already got dreams about eventually being able to think about things like hairstyles.

"I want to keep on growing it," he says. "But, I am a boxer, so even when it grows back, I'll still cut it really short."

The Wig Boxer chose to wear a toupee because he thought the hirsute look would make him attractive to the opposite sex. Now that he's got some hair back, well, two or three hairs at least, has it changed the way women look at him?

"Nah. My hair hasn't grown back enough yet," the Wig Boxer tells Shukan Gendai. "Mind you, it's probably harder for me to get a girlfriend now that I'm famous than it has ever been before. Every woman who sees me now calls me 'The Wig Boxer,' whether they know me or not. Women basically regard me as being off the radar when it comes to love. It's tough."