Shinji Takehara is a Japanese former professional boxer who competed from 1989 to 1996.
16 Facts About Shinji Takehara
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Shinji Takehara was the first Japanese boxer to capture a middleweight title having held the WBA title from 1995 to 1996.
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Shinji Takehara lost the belt in his only defeat during his first defense to William Joppy in a 9th-round TKO.
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Shinji Takehara was overwhelmed in the first round and appeared unable to determine incoming attacks.
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Ringside doctors examination discovered Shinji Takehara had posterior vitreous detachment which progressed into retinal detachment and subsequently forced him into retirement.
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Shinji Takehara briefly played baseball before joining the school judo team.
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Shinji Takehara did not move on to high school, after graduating middle school, he moved to Tokyo in 1988 to start a boxing career.
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Shinji Takehara took numerous part-time jobs while training, including working as a cleaning man at Yokohama Arena, where he would later make his first title defense of the WBA Middleweight Title.
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Shinji Takehara made his debut on May 15,1989, with a 4th-round KO victory.
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Shinji Takehara went on to win the Japanese Middleweight Title in 1991, defending it three times.
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Shinji Takehara won the vacant OPBF Middleweight Title in 1993, which he defended six times.
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Shinji Takehara went into the fight as a huge underdog, and the match took place in the tiny Korakuen Hall despite being a world title bout.
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Regardless, Shinji Takehara knocked Castro down in the 3rd round, and won by unanimous decision in 12 rounds, becoming the first ever Japanese boxer to win a world middleweight title.
14.
Shinji Takehara himself admitted that he would have been knocked out even if the referee did not stop the fight, and Joppy remarked that he could have knocked out Shinji Takehara much earlier if he had wanted.
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Joppy remarked before his fight against Felix Trinidad that Shinji Takehara punched the hardest of any of the fighters he had faced.
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Shinji Takehara is known more for his success after retiring from boxing, but his short career has left an important legacy on Japanese boxing.