Ginjiro and Yudai Shigeoka, two of the hottest prospects out of Japan, have put the entire Minimumweight/Strawweight division on notice with their latest knockout wins which saw the two earn the IBF and WBC (respectively) interim Minimumweight world titles. The two brothers headlined as the main- and co-main event at the Yoyogi Gymnasium ― based in Tokyo ― on April 15th.
Both brothers are currently contenders within the Minimumweight division and are noticeably one of the least experienced yet most talented fighters in their division. With their last matches, the two declared their intention to conquer their weight class after earning their respective interim titles.
Ginjiro Shigeoka (9-0, 7 KO’s), 23, is the youngest of the two brothers but slightly more experienced given he made his professional debut in 2018 while Yudai Shigeoka (7-0, 5 KO’s), 26, started later in 2019. Both brothers debuted as Minimumweights and they have remained in the division ever since and worked themselves up to become contenders within just a couple of years.
The oldest of the two, Yudai Shigeoka, defeated former WBO Minimumweight world champion Wilfredo Mendez (18-3, 6 KO’s) by knockout in just seven (out of twelve) rounds to capture the WBC Minimumweight title and round up a tremendous display of skill and power.
Ginjiro Shigeoka left his own knockout victory hanging until the ninth round when he also knocked his respective opponent, another former world (IBF) champion in Rene Mark Cuarto (21-4-2, 12 KO’s) to capture the IBF interim Minimumweight title. Ginjiro most notably narrowly missed out on his first world title earlier this year when he faced Mexican IBF champion Daniel Valladeres (26-3-1, 15 KO’s) on January 6th, but the fight was cancelled in the third round following a clash of heads that left Valladeres unable to continue. The fight was ruled a no-contest not long after due to the low number of rounds that were fought.
The KO (interim title) victories of both Japanese prospects is obviously a great success to both, and may draw assumptions that they will become the latest pair of brothers to take the boxing world by storm. Yudai and Ginjiro Shigeoka are far from the only siblings to be in the public eye due to their performances, and are preceded by famous names such as the Charlo brothers, the Klitschko brothers, the Hatton brothers and the Inoue brothers who also happen to be Japanese.
Japan also will have a lot to celebrate given another host of siblings have grasped or come close to grasping a world title with Takuma Inoue (18-1, 4 KO’s) ― younger brother of the widely-renowned Naoya Inoue (24-0, 21 KO’s) ― having earned his own world belt roughly a week ago against Liborio Solis (35-7-1, 16 KO’s).
The brothers are also well ahead of schedule given they have already become interim champions before even fighting a double-digit number of times. At their rate, they are bound to become full world champions within a year. Given their own respective belts, Ginjiro Shigeoka will still be angling to face IBF Minimumweight champion Daniel Valladeres in the near future to resume their cancelled January bout, while Yudai Shigeoka as the WBC interim champion can also look forward to facing WBC champion Panya Pradabsri (39-1, 23 KO’s) ― from Thailand ― sooner or later.
Yudai Shigeoka faces a somewhat tougher challenge in WBC champion Panya Pradabsri who has held on to the world title since 2020 and has already made three successful world title defenses over the past three years. Pradabsri is additionally considered to be the best Miniumweight in the world (according to BoxRec) and provides a signifcant obstacle to Yudai Shigeoka’s wish to become a world champion.
Daniel Valladeres, the IBF world champion of the 105 lbs division, may be somewhat of an easier touch for Ginjiro Shigeoka who defeated Rene Mark Cuarto soundly while Valladeres barely defeated Cuarto by split-decision to net the IBF Minimumweight title less than a year ago in July. Valladeres’ first title defense was against the now no-contested bout with Ginjiro Shigeoka ― who Valladeres struggled against ― tips things slightly more in favor of Shigeoka who looks to be very much in form.
The two siblings will be an interesting watch for the boxing world and Japan for the next couple of years, given their relative dominance whilst still early in their careers, and their status as siblings. Another notable point of interest surrounding the Shigeoka brothers are their rather high KO ratios of 70%, which upon a couple more fights can easily sway over 80% or even 90% once their career fully gets into the double-digits. They have proven to be skilled, powerful and tough opponents for anyone at Minimumweight and only time will tell if they will dominate similarly to other highly-recognized siblings such as the Klitschko’s.
