Kuniaki Shibata is a Japanese former professional boxer who competed from 1965 to 1977.
11 Facts About Kuniaki Shibata
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Kuniaki Shibata is a world champion in two weight classes, having held the WBC and The Ring featherweight titles from 1970 to 1972, the WBA and The Ring super-featherweight titles in 1973, and the WBC super-featherweight title from 1974 to 1975.
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Kuniaki Shibata relinquished the title to challenge WBC featherweight champion Vicente Saldivar, and won the title when Saldivar gave up after the twelfth round.
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Kuniaki Shibata made his first defense by first-round knockout, and retained his title in his second defense with a draw, but lost to Clemente Sanchez in May, 1972.
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Kuniaki Shibata moved up to super featherweight, and got his second world title shot against Lineal and WBA champion Ben Villaflor in Honolulu on March 12,1973.
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Kuniaki Shibata won by fifteen-round unanimous decision to capture his second world title.
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Kuniaki Shibata made one defense in Japan before returning to the United States to fight Ben Villaflor again for his second defense.
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Kuniaki Shibata lost by knockout less than 2 minutes into the first round to lose his second world title.
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Kuniaki Shibata defended the title three times before losing to Alfredo Escalera in 1975.
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Kuniaki Shibata attempted another comeback, but announced his retirement in 1977.
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Kuniaki Shibata was a short and speedy fighter, who took advantage of even the slightest openings to throw in a flurry of punches.