Yoshio Shirai


Yoshio Shirai was a professional boxer from Tokyo, Japan. He won the Undisputed Flyweight Championship in 1952, becoming the first Japanese boxer to win a world title.

Childhood and early career

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

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.
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.

Post retirement

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

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

Professional boxing record

No.ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes
58LossPascual PérezKO5, 2:59May 30, 1955Korakuen Baseball Stadium, JapanFor NBA and The Ring flyweight titles
57Loss46–7–4Pascual PérezUD15Nov 26, 1954Korakuen Baseball Stadium, JapanLost NBA and The Ring flyweight titles
56Win46–6–4Takashi SenoKO4 Sep 18, 1954Japan
55Win45–6–4Alberto BarenghiPTS10Aug 11, 1954Estadio Luna Park, Buenos Aires, Argentina
54Draw44–6–4Pascual PérezPTS10Jul 24, 1954Estadio Luna Park, Buenos Aires, Argentina
53Win44–6–3Leo EspinosaSD15May 24, 1954Korakuen Baseball Stadium, JapanRetained NBA and The Ring flyweight titles
52Win43–6–3Masaru KanekoRTD8 Apr 8, 1954Osaka, Japan
51Win42–6–3Terry AllenUD15Oct 27, 1953Korakuen Baseball Stadium, JapanRetained NBA and The Ring flyweight titles
50Loss41–6–3Leo EspinosaRTD7 Sep 19, 1953Osaka Stadium, Osaka, Japan
49Win41–5–3Vic HermanTKO10 Jul 17, 1953Korakuen Baseball Stadium, Japan
48Win40–5–3Tanny CampoUD15May 18, 1953Korakuen Baseball Stadium, JapanRetained NBA and The Ring flyweight titles
47Win39–5–3Mario MaciasUD10Apr 17, 1953Japan
46Win38–5–3Dado MarinoUD15Nov 15, 1952Korakuen Baseball Stadium, JapanRetained NBA and The Ring flyweight titles
45Win37–5–3Roy HigaUD10Sep 26, 1952Korakuen Baseball Stadium, Japan
44Win36–5–3Dado MarinoUD15May 19, 1952Korakuen Baseball Stadium, JapanWon NBA and The Ring flyweight titles
43Win35–5–3Kyoichi MutoRTD6 Apr 4, 1952Japan
42Win34–5–3Hiroshi HoriguchiUD10Feb 9, 1952JapanRetained Japan bantamweight title
41Win33–5–3Dado MarinoTKO7, 1:11Dec 4, 1951Honolulu Stadium, Honolulu, Hawaii
40Win32–5–3Takahisa HoriguchiKO6, 0:42Oct 25, 1951JapanRetained Japan flyweight title
39Win31–5–3Hidemasa NagashimaPTS10Sep 20, 1951JapanWon Japan bantamweight title
38Loss30–5–3Dado MarinoSD10May 21, 1951Korakuen Baseball Stadium, Japan
37Loss30–4–3Hidemasa NagashimaDQ8, 2:25Mar 17, 1951JapanLost Japan bantamweight title
36Win30–3–3Yukio TakahashiDQ7 Feb 3, 1951Japan
35Win29–3–3Takashi SenoPTS10Oct 26, 1950JapanRetained Japan bantamweight title
34Win28–3–3Katsumi KobayashiKO2 Sep 25, 1950Japan
33Win27–3–3Hideo KijimaKO2, 2:07Jun 28, 1950JapanRetained Japan flyweight title
32Win26–3–3Yoichiro HanadaPTS10May 25, 1950JapanRetained Japan bantamweight title
31Win25–3–3Yoshiaki NarioPTS8Apr 14, 1950Japan
30Win24–3–3Hiroshi HoriguchiUD10Dec 15, 1949JapanWon Japan bantamweight title
29Win23–3–3Kyoichi MutoKO3 Sep 28, 1949Japan
28Win22–3–3Noboru KushidaPTS10Jun 25, 1949JapanRetained Japan flyweight title
27Win21–3–3Eijiro YajimaPTS10May 2, 1949Japan
26Win20–3–3Tomoyoshi YanagidaKO2 Mar 21, 1949Japan
25Win19–3–3Yoichiro HanadaKO5 Jan 28, 1949JapanWon Japan flyweight title
24Win18–3–3Noboru KushidaSD8Oct 9, 1948Japan
23Win17–3–3Eijiro YajimaUD8Sep 11, 1948Japan
22Win16–3–3Nobuyuki IshimoriKO2 Jul 30, 1948Japan
21Win15–3–3Kiyoshi NishimuraPTS8Jul 10, 1948Japan
20Draw14–3–3Kunimatsu SudaPTS6Jun 21, 1948Japan
19Draw14–3–2Eijiro YajimaPTS8Jun 6, 1948Japan
18Win14–3–1Sadaji WadaPTS8May 7, 1948Japan
17Win13–3–1Kazumi UedaPTS6Apr 3, 1948Fuji, Japan
16Win12–3–1Kazumi UedaPTS6Feb 15, 1948Japan
15Win11–3–1Michiyosi KoizumiKO2 Dec 25, 1947Japan
14Draw10–3–1Takeshi MakinoPTS8Oct 27, 1947Japan
13Loss10–3Eijiro YajimaPTS8Sep 11, 1947Japan
12Loss10–2Yoichiro HanadaPTS8Jul 18, 1947Japan
11Win10–1Toshimitsu KushihashiPTS6Jul 6, 1947Japan
10Win9–1Kazumi UedaPTS6Jun 27, 1947Japan
9Loss8–1Noboru KushidaKO5 Dec 14, 1946Japan
8Win8–0Sakae SuzukiKO1 Mar 28, 1944Japan
7Win7–0Sadasuke AokiPTS4Mar 5, 1944Japan
6Win6–0Shigeo TanakaPTS4Feb 10, 1944Japan
5Win5–0Makoto YamadaKO1 Feb 6, 1944Japan
4Win4–0Masao ItoKO1 Jan 20, 1944Japan
3Win3–0Tomisaburo OuraPTS4Dec 23, 1943Japan
2Win2–0Saichi KubotaKO1 Dec 10, 1943Japan
1Win1–0Jumpo UmiyamaKO1 Nov 26, 1943Japan

Titles in boxing

Major world titles

''The Ring'' magazine titles

The Ring flyweight champion

Regional/International titles

Undisputed titles