Background
Yoshio Shirai was born on 23rd of November, 1923 in Tokyo, Japan.
1952
Dado Marino (on the left) and Shirai after their third fight in May
1952
Yoshio Shirai in World flyweight titlematch in May
1953
Yoshio Shirai and Terry Allen in Tokyo
義男 白井
Yoshio Shirai was born on 23rd of November, 1923 in Tokyo, Japan.
Yoshio 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, former athletic coach at Illinois University, he won the Japan championship (1949) by knocking out Yoichiro Hanada. He then defeated Dado Marino in Honolulu by TKO and became world champion. Alvin Rober Cahn became his trainer and manager. Shirai's boxing skills improved dramatically under Cahn's guidance, and the two formed a close bond.
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).
He worked as a boxing commentator and critic before creating a sports gym in 1995 with former world champion Yoko Gushiken.
Shirai died from pneumonia on December 26, 2003. He was 80 years old.
Yoko Gushiken (具志堅 用高) is a Japanese former professional boxer from 1974-1981. His professional record is 23-1 and he held the title of WBA Light Flyweight champion 1976-1981. Following his retirement from boxing, he remains popular in Japan as a tarento having signed a contract with Ohta Productions.
Gushiken is part of the 2015 class for the International Boxing Hall of Fame.
