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Yoshio Shirai

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Yoshio Shirai
Dado Marino (on the left) and Shirai
after their third fight in May 1952
Born
Yoshio Shirai

(1923-11-23)November 23, 1923
Tokyo, Japan
DiedDecember 26, 2003(2003-12-26) (aged 80)
NationalityJapanese
Statistics
Weight(s)Flyweight
StanceOrthodox
Boxing record
Total fights58
Wins46
Wins by KO18
Losses8
Draws4

Yoshio Shirai (白井 義男, Shirai Yoshio, November 23, 1923 – December 26, 2003) was a professional boxer from Tokyo, Japan. He won the world flyweight title in 1952, becoming the first Japanese boxer to win a world title.

Childhood and early career

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Shirai first boxed in elementary school, during a mock match-up against a kangaroo at a local carnival. He became interested in boxing afterwards, and made his professional debut in 1943, during World War II. He won his first eight professional fights before being drafted to join the Imperial Japanese Navy. After being released in 1945, he returned to boxing, but was almost forced into retirement because of injuries he had sustained during the war. However, he met Alvin Rober Cahn, a Jewish-American SCAP employee, who became his trainer and manager. Shirai's boxing skills improved dramatically under Cahn's guidance, and the two formed a close bond.

Shirai fought with the aggressive boxing style typical of the Japanese boxers of the time, but made a change to a more technical, defensive style under the guidance of his new trainer. Cahn made Shirai live in his house, and supervised everything from his health and training to his meals. Cahn began to suffer from dementia in his old age, and it was Shirai's family that took care of him. Cahn had no children when he died, and left Shirai with his entire fortune.

Professional career

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Shirai won his first fight after teaming with Cahn on July 30, 1948, and won the Japanese flyweight title in 1949. He also won the Japanese bantamweight title the same year, and held both titles for over 3 years, making 5 total defenses.

He fought flyweight world champion Dado Marino on May 21, 1951, in a non-title match. Shirai lost by split decision but fought Marino again in December, 1951, to mark a 7th round KO win. On May 19, 1952, he met Marino for the third time for the world flyweight title. Shirai won by 15 round decision, becoming the new world champion, and first ever Japanese boxer to win a world title.[1]

Shirai made four defenses of the world title before losing his title to Pascual Perez in November, 1954 by unanimous decision. He fought Perez again in May, 1955, but lost decisively by KO in the 5th round. He announced his retirement after this loss. His professional record was 48-8-2 (20KOs).

Post retirement

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Shirai worked as a boxing commentator and critic before creating a sports gym in 1995 with former world champion Yoko Gushiken. He received an award from the Japanese government in 1995 for his efforts in boxing. He was inducted into the Ring Magazine hall of fame in 1977.

Death

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Shirai died from pneumonia on December 26, 2003. He was 80 years old.

Professional boxing record

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58 fights 46 wins 8 losses
By knockout 18 3
By decision 27 4
By disqualification 1 1
Draws 4
No. Result Record Opponent Type Round, time Date Location Notes
58 Loss 46–8–4 Pascual Pérez KO 5 (15), 2:59 May 30, 1955 Korakuen Baseball Stadium, Japan For NBA and The Ring flyweight titles
57 Loss 46–7–4 Pascual Pérez UD 15 Nov 26, 1954 Korakuen Baseball Stadium, Japan Lost NBA and The Ring flyweight titles
56 Win 46–6–4 Takashi Seno KO 4 (8) Sep 18, 1954 Japan
55 Win 45–6–4 Alberto Barenghi PTS 10 Aug 11, 1954 Estadio Luna Park, Buenos Aires, Argentina
54 Draw 44–6–4 Pascual Pérez PTS 10 Jul 24, 1954 Estadio Luna Park, Buenos Aires, Argentina
53 Win 44–6–3 Leo Espinosa SD 15 May 24, 1954 Korakuen Baseball Stadium, Japan Retained NBA and The Ring flyweight titles
52 Win 43–6–3 Masaru Kaneko RTD 8 (10) Apr 8, 1954 Osaka, Japan
51 Win 42–6–3 Terry Allen UD 15 Oct 27, 1953 Korakuen Baseball Stadium, Japan Retained NBA and The Ring flyweight titles
50 Loss 41–6–3 Leo Espinosa RTD 7 (10) Sep 19, 1953 Osaka Stadium, Osaka, Japan
49 Win 41–5–3 Vic Herman TKO 10 (10) Jul 17, 1953 Korakuen Baseball Stadium, Japan
48 Win 40–5–3 Tanny Campo UD 15 May 18, 1953 Korakuen Baseball Stadium, Japan Retained NBA and The Ring flyweight titles
47 Win 39–5–3 Mario Macias UD 10 Apr 17, 1953 Japan
46 Win 38–5–3 Dado Marino UD 15 Nov 15, 1952 Korakuen Baseball Stadium, Japan Retained NBA and The Ring flyweight titles
45 Win 37–5–3 Roy Higa UD 10 Sep 26, 1952 Korakuen Baseball Stadium, Japan
44 Win 36–5–3 Dado Marino UD 15 May 19, 1952 Korakuen Baseball Stadium, Japan Won NBA and The Ring flyweight titles
43 Win 35–5–3 Kyoichi Muto RTD 6 (8) Apr 4, 1952 Japan
42 Win 34–5–3 Hiroshi Horiguchi UD 10 Feb 9, 1952 Japan Retained Japan bantamweight title
41 Win 33–5–3 Dado Marino TKO 7 (10), 1:11 Dec 4, 1951 Honolulu Stadium, Honolulu, Hawaii
40 Win 32–5–3 Takahisa Horiguchi KO 6 (10), 0:42 Oct 25, 1951 Japan Retained Japan flyweight title
39 Win 31–5–3 Hidemasa Nagashima PTS 10 Sep 20, 1951 Japan Won Japan bantamweight title
38 Loss 30–5–3 Dado Marino SD 10 May 21, 1951 Korakuen Baseball Stadium, Japan
37 Loss 30–4–3 Hidemasa Nagashima DQ 8 (10), 2:25 Mar 17, 1951 Japan Lost Japan bantamweight title
36 Win 30–3–3 Yukio Takahashi DQ 7 (10) Feb 3, 1951 Japan
35 Win 29–3–3 Takashi Seno PTS 10 Oct 26, 1950 Japan Retained Japan bantamweight title
34 Win 28–3–3 Katsumi Kobayashi KO 2 (10) Sep 25, 1950 Japan
33 Win 27–3–3 Hideo Kijima KO 2 (10), 2:07 Jun 28, 1950 Japan Retained Japan flyweight title
32 Win 26–3–3 Yoichiro Hanada PTS 10 May 25, 1950 Japan Retained Japan bantamweight title
31 Win 25–3–3 Yoshiaki Nario PTS 8 Apr 14, 1950 Japan
30 Win 24–3–3 Hiroshi Horiguchi UD 10 Dec 15, 1949 Japan Won Japan bantamweight title
29 Win 23–3–3 Kyoichi Muto KO 3 (8) Sep 28, 1949 Japan
28 Win 22–3–3 Noboru Kushida PTS 10 Jun 25, 1949 Japan Retained Japan flyweight title
27 Win 21–3–3 Eijiro Yajima PTS 10 May 2, 1949 Japan
26 Win 20–3–3 Tomoyoshi Yanagida KO 2 (10) Mar 21, 1949 Japan
25 Win 19–3–3 Yoichiro Hanada KO 5 (10) Jan 28, 1949 Japan Won Japan flyweight title
24 Win 18–3–3 Noboru Kushida SD 8 Oct 9, 1948 Japan
23 Win 17–3–3 Eijiro Yajima UD 8 Sep 11, 1948 Japan
22 Win 16–3–3 Nobuyuki Ishimori KO 2 (8) Jul 30, 1948 Japan
21 Win 15–3–3 Kiyoshi Nishimura PTS 8 Jul 10, 1948 Japan
20 Draw 14–3–3 Kunimatsu Suda PTS 6 Jun 21, 1948 Japan
19 Draw 14–3–2 Eijiro Yajima PTS 8 Jun 6, 1948 Japan
18 Win 14–3–1 Sadaji Wada PTS 8 May 7, 1948 Japan
17 Win 13–3–1 Kazumi Ueda PTS 6 Apr 3, 1948 Fuji, Japan
16 Win 12–3–1 Kazumi Ueda PTS 6 Feb 15, 1948 Japan
15 Win 11–3–1 Michiyosi Koizumi KO 2 (6) Dec 25, 1947 Japan
14 Draw 10–3–1 Takeshi Makino PTS 8 Oct 27, 1947 Japan
13 Loss 10–3 Eijiro Yajima PTS 8 Sep 11, 1947 Japan
12 Loss 10–2 Yoichiro Hanada PTS 8 Jul 18, 1947 Japan
11 Win 10–1 Toshimitsu Kushihashi PTS 6 Jul 6, 1947 Japan
10 Win 9–1 Kazumi Ueda PTS 6 Jun 27, 1947 Japan
9 Loss 8–1 Noboru Kushida KO 5 (8) Dec 14, 1946 Japan
8 Win 8–0 Sakae Suzuki KO 1 (6) Mar 28, 1944 Japan
7 Win 7–0 Sadasuke Aoki PTS 4 Mar 5, 1944 Japan
6 Win 6–0 Shigeo Tanaka PTS 4 Feb 10, 1944 Japan
5 Win 5–0 Makoto Yamada KO 1 (4) Feb 6, 1944 Japan
4 Win 4–0 Masao Ito KO 1 (4) Jan 20, 1944 Japan
3 Win 3–0 Tomisaburo Oura PTS 4 Dec 23, 1943 Japan
2 Win 2–0 Saichi Kubota KO 1 (4) Dec 10, 1943 Japan
1 Win 1–0 Jumpo Umiyama KO 1 (4) Nov 26, 1943 Japan

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Yoshio Shirai, 80; Japanese Boxing Champion". Los Angeles Times. December 31, 2003.
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Sporting positions
World boxing titles
Preceded by NYSAC flyweight champion
May 19, 1952 - November 26, 1954 		Succeeded by
WBA flyweight champion
May 19, 1952 - November 26, 1954
The Ring flyweight champion
May 19, 1952 - November 26, 1954
Undisputed flyweight champion
May 19, 1952 - November 26, 1954
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