Ginjiro "Silver-Bullet Dynamo" Shigeoka

This kid is perhaps a dark horse poised to steal the show on the undercard of the Kazuto Ioka vs. Jeyvier Jesús Cintrón Ocasio new year's even gala tomorrow, and if he impresses on this stage he'll likely no longer be among Japan's best kept secrets. He is defending the WBO Asia Pacific 105lb title, which he claimed in just his fourth pro bout (leaving him tied for the record of "fastest route to a regional belt" in Japanese boxing history, along such flattering company as Naoya Inoue, Joichiro Tatsuyoshi, and Kōsei Tanaka). His opponent is Rey Loreto, a Filipino veteran who is either a high-level journeyman or former world champ (depending on your view of the IBO's legitimacy). Big step up in class, either way.

Shigeoka is just 20 but has been making waves for years already. He was a karateka in early youth before switching to pugilism, and immediately excelling. In the amateurs he was 56-1, having only ever lost the once to his own elder brother Yudai Shigeoka (who in the amateurs went 81-10 with 21 kayos, and is now 2-0 in the pros at light fly) - and that was in the U15 class, so when you consider that he and Yudai are 2½ years apart that means Ginjiro can't have been over 12 or 13 when he last tasted defeat! He was tapped by Akira Yaegashi for sparring at just 18, before having even debuted in the pros. He was being groomed to represent his country when it hosted next year's Olympics, but when it was announced the Games at Ryōgoku Sumo Hall are going to exclude the light flyweight class, he decided there was nothing left to stop him from turning pro.

In his last outing, technically still a teenager by a few months, he destroyed Clyde Azarcon of the Philippines in just 72 seconds, a one-shot KO with a left to Azarcon's body. Azarcon entered with a 15-2-1 record and had never been stopped, and downed just once. If he does anything even remotely similar to Loreto - hell, if he stops him, period - we officially have another Japanese wunderkind in the pipeline.

 

True...but if the gambit pays off, and he keeps doing stuff like this (KO at 4:15) as he climbs up the ranks:

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...he's going to be a star. He's already calling out freaking Hiroto Kyōguchi, so I don't think he's worried about being coddled and brought along slow.

 

Wait, seriously?

I'm surprised the dad even agreed to let them get in the ring in the first place.

 

Ginjiro does train at the famous Watanabe Gym, which is headed up by JPBA president Hitoshi Watanabe - not sure if he's any relation to Jirō, though. Would be a small world (or, er, archipelago ) if so! Also wouldn't surprise me if distance relatives sought to make themselves even more distant given his naughtiness...

 

Ah, I misread then. It translated into him saying "I"m right there with Kyōguchi" and in the same breath saying he is hungry to smash his way to a world title. I guess within context he probably meant he's on his way to being almost peers with him, rather than a potential rival?

 

No worries..

Correct me, senpai!