Former World Boxing Council female flyweight champion Go Shindo held a press conference at Green Tsuda Boxing Gym in Osaka on Apr. 21 he will come out of retirement and will fight as a male boxer after Shindo became a male by going through sex reassignment surgery in 2017.

Shindo, who changed the name to Go Hashimoto from Megumi Hashimoto after changing his family registration shortly after the surgery in Thailand, formally announced his intention to take a class-C license test for a proffessional boxer on May 15 in Osaka. Shindo said, ‘’I have left something unfinished in the ring.’’

While Japan Pro Boxing Association recently decided to present a petition to Japan Boxing Commission concerning Shindo’s desire to fight as a male boxer, JBC was disbanded at the end of last month due to financial difficulties and went into liquidation proceedings, no tests for professional boxers have been scheduled yet.

Since a person up to the end of 34 years old is eligible for taking the test, Shindo does not have much time left as he will turn 35 in July.

As a woman, Shindo made her debut in 2008 from Kuratoki Boxing Gym in Wakayama Prefecture, western Japan, won the WBC world female flyweight title in 2013 and successfully defended the title twice.

She later moved to the Green Tsuda gym. Her last fight was against legendary boxer Naoko Fujioka of Shinji Takehara and Takanori Hatakeyama Boxer Fitness Gym in June 2016. Her record as a female boxer was 16 wins, including 11 knockouts, against four defeats.

While at present Shindo runs a welfare institution in Wakayama Prefecture, he said, ‘’Though I am helping children with handicaps amid coronavirus catastrophe, I don’t think I can serve as a role model unless I am living a more beautiful life. Since I will turn 35 shortly, I decided to live in my own way and decided to return to the ring.’’

After the day’s press conference, Shindo went two rounds of sparring with featherweight Iriya Okahashi of the gym, who has a 1-1 win-loss tally as a pro, and displayed left jabs and straight rights, which left the impression of no physical strength difference at all.

Shindo said he has fighting either at super flyweight or bantamweight as a pro, adding, ‘’Though I will have to face rough passage in the future with psychological and physical anxieties because I will enter the unknown world, my immediate aim is not to obtain the professional license itself but a victory in a fight.’’