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 (20KOs).

Personal life Shirai was a distant relative of socialist politician Inejirō Asanuma, who served as the wedding matchmaker (nakōdo) at Shirai's marriage.

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

ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes58Loss Pascual PérezKO5 (15), May 30, 195557Loss46–7–4 Pascual PérezUD15Nov 26, 195456Win46–6–4 Takashi SenoKO4 (8)Sep 18, 195455Win45–6–4 Alberto BarenghiPTS10Aug 11, 195454Draw44–6–4 Pascual PérezPTS10Jul 24, 195453Win44–6–3 Leo EspinosaSD15May 24, 195452Win43–6–3 Masaru KanekoRTD8 (10)Apr 8, 195451Win42–6–3 Terry AllenUD15Oct 27, 195350Loss41–6–3 Leo EspinosaRTD7 (10)Sep 19, 195349Win41–5–3 Vic HermanTKO10 (10)Jul 17, 195348Win40–5–3 Tanny CampoUD15May 18, 195347Win39–5–3 Mario MaciasUD10Apr 17, 195346Win38–5–3 Dado MarinoUD15Nov 15, 195245Win37–5–3 Roy HigaUD10Sep 26, 195244Win36–5–3 Dado MarinoUD15May 19, 195243Win35–5–3 Kyoichi MutoRTD6 (8)Apr 4, 195242Win34–5–3 Hiroshi HoriguchiUD10Feb 9, 195241Win33–5–3 Dado MarinoTKO7 (10), Dec 4, 195140Win32–5–3 Takahisa HoriguchiKO6 (10), Oct 25, 195139Win31–5–3 Hidemasa NagashimaPTS10Sep 20, 195138Loss30–5–3 Dado MarinoSD10May 21, 195137Loss30–4–3 Hidemasa NagashimaDQ8 (10), Mar 17, 195136Win30–3–3 Yukio TakahashiDQ7 (10)Feb 3, 195135Win29–3–3 Takashi SenoPTS10Oct 26, 195034Win28–3–3 Katsumi KobayashiKO2 (10)Sep 25, 195033Win27–3–3 Hideo KijimaKO2 (10), Jun 28, 195032Win26–3–3 Yoichiro HanadaPTS10May 25, 195031Win25–3–3 Yoshiaki NarioPTS8Apr 14, 195030Win24–3–3 Hiroshi HoriguchiUD10Dec 15, 194929Win23–3–3 Kyoichi MutoKO3 (8)Sep 28, 194928Win22–3–3 Noboru KushidaPTS10Jun 25, 194927Win21–3–3 Eijiro YajimaPTS10May 2, 194926Win20–3–3 Tomoyoshi YanagidaKO2 (10)Mar 21, 194925Win19–3–3 Yoichiro HanadaKO5 (10)Jan 28, 194924Win18–3–3 Noboru KushidaSD8Oct 9, 194823Win17–3–3 Eijiro YajimaUD8Sep 11, 194822Win16–3–3 Nobuyuki IshimoriKO2 (8)Jul 30, 194821Win15–3–3 Kiyoshi NishimuraPTS8Jul 10, 194820Draw14–3–3 Kunimatsu SudaPTS6Jun 21, 194819Draw14–3–2 Eijiro YajimaPTS8Jun 6, 194818Win14–3–1 Sadaji WadaPTS8May 7, 194817Win13–3–1 Kazumi UedaPTS6Apr 3, 194816Win12–3–1 Kazumi UedaPTS6Feb 15, 194815Win11–3–1 Michiyosi KoizumiKO2 (6)Dec 25, 194714Draw10–3–1 Takeshi MakinoPTS8Oct 27, 194713Loss10–3 Eijiro YajimaPTS8Sep 11, 194712Loss10–2 Yoichiro HanadaPTS8Jul 18, 194711Win10–1 Toshimitsu KushihashiPTS6Jul 6, 194710Win9–1 Kazumi UedaPTS6Jun 27, 19479Loss8–1 Noboru KushidaKO5 (8)Dec 14, 19468Win8–0 Sakae SuzukiKO1 (6)Mar 28, 19447Win7–0 Sadasuke AokiPTS4Mar 5, 19446Win6–0 Shigeo TanakaPTS4Feb 10, 19445Win5–0 Makoto YamadaKO1 (4)Feb 6, 19444Win4–0 Masao ItoKO1 (4)Jan 20, 19443Win3–0 Tomisaburo OuraPTS4Dec 23, 19432Win2–0 Saichi KubotaKO1 (4)Dec 10, 19431Win1–0 Jumpo UmiyamaKO1 (4)Nov 26, 1943

Titles in boxing Major world titles NBA (WBA) flyweight champion (112 lbs)

The Ring magazine titles The Ring flyweight champion (112 lbs)

Regional/International titles Japan flyweight champion (112 lbs) Japan bantamweight champion (118 lbs) (2×)

Undisputed titles Undisputed flyweight champion

See also List of flyweight boxing champions List of WBA world champions List of The Ring world champions List of Japanese boxing world champions Boxing in Japan

Notes and references Notes

References

External links

Yoshio Shirai - CBZ Profile