Highly touted Ginjiro Shigeoka of Watanabe Boxing Gym pounded out a unanimous decision over second-ranked Tatsuro Nakashima of Hiranaka Boxing School Gym and won the vacant Japanese minimumweight title in Okinawa Prefecture on March 27.

While there were no knockdowns during the 10-round fight at Tomigusuku City Gymnasium, the left-handed Shigeoka, ranked first in the division, controlled the fight throughout with his variety of punches.

The title was left vacant by Kai Ishizawa of M.T Boxing Gym as he will challenge World Boxing Organization minimumweight champion Masataka Taniguchi of the Watanabe gym for the latter’s title on Apr. 22 in Tokyo.

It was the 22-year-old Shigeoka’s second regional title as he relinquished the World Boxing Organization’s Asia-Pacific minimumweight title last year after successfully defending it twice.

With the victory, Shigeoka, who won five big amateur titles when he was a high-school student, extended his unbeaten streak to seven, including five knockouts. For his part, Nakashima, 27, impaired to a 11-3-1 win-loss-draw tally with seven KOs.
Photo by Koji Yamada