Ginjiro Shigeoka is under observation in Osaka following a frightening collapse in his second defeat to Pedro Taduran
Former minimumweight champion Ginjiro Shigeoka once again collapsed after a loss to Pedro Taduran this past weekend, but while he’d made it to the final bell, the situation proved worse than before. Multiple outlets report that the 25-year-old underwent an emergency craniotomy (removal of part of the skull) to treat a brain bleed and remains under observation at an Osaka hospital.
This ends his boxing career, as Kyodo News notes that Japanese Boxing Commission will not license a fighter who’s undergone brain surgery, but he’s alive and that’s what matters.
Shigeoka (11-2, 9 KO) and elder brother Yudai looked like standard-bearers for the next generation of Japanese stars, taking over the sport’s lightest weight class with a series of dominant performances. A brutal loss to Taduran knocked Ginjiro from the ranks of the undefeated last July, and though he got the all-clear to compete again, he once again came up short, this time by split decision.
Our thoughts are with the Shigeoka family. I dearly hope Ginjiro pulls through and looks back on all he accomplished in his brief career with pride.
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