Ginjiro Shigeoka vacates Japanese title
Earlier today it was announced that Japanese Minimumweight champion Ginjiro Shigeoka (8-0, 6) [重岡銀次朗] had vacated the Japanese national title, after having made his first defense of the belt.
Although no specific reason was given for Ginjiro's decision there are two notable reasons.
The first of those is that Ginjiro is on the verge of a world title fight. He is currently ranked #1 by the WBC, and has world rankings with the WBA, IBF and WBO. It's assumed that he and his team have lined up a world title fight for later in the year, and holding the Japanese title for an extra few weeks won't really change things.
A second reason for him vacating the title is the fact that his older brother Yudai Shigeoka (5-0, 3) [重岡優大] was set to take on Tatsuro Nakashima (11-3-1, 7) [仲島辰郎], on November 17th, in an eliminator for the title. That bout is now expected to become a battle for the vacant title, rather than the mandatory position, giving Yudai a chance to claim the Japanese title and unify it with the WBO Asia Pacific title.
Given this decision from Ginjiro, we're expecting him and his team to announce a world title fight in the next few weeks, potentially for a late December date.
Although no specific reason was given for Ginjiro's decision there are two notable reasons.
The first of those is that Ginjiro is on the verge of a world title fight. He is currently ranked #1 by the WBC, and has world rankings with the WBA, IBF and WBO. It's assumed that he and his team have lined up a world title fight for later in the year, and holding the Japanese title for an extra few weeks won't really change things.
A second reason for him vacating the title is the fact that his older brother Yudai Shigeoka (5-0, 3) [重岡優大] was set to take on Tatsuro Nakashima (11-3-1, 7) [仲島辰郎], on November 17th, in an eliminator for the title. That bout is now expected to become a battle for the vacant title, rather than the mandatory position, giving Yudai a chance to claim the Japanese title and unify it with the WBO Asia Pacific title.
Given this decision from Ginjiro, we're expecting him and his team to announce a world title fight in the next few weeks, potentially for a late December date.