Isho Shiba (born 18 September 1986 in

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

) is an Assyrian-Canadian

boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: * Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing *Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom * Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe ee ...

. He is an ethnic

Assyrian Assyrian may refer to: * Assyrian people, the indigenous ethnic group of Mesopotamia. * Assyria, a major Mesopotamian kingdom and empire. ** Early Assyrian Period ** Old Assyrian Period ** Middle Assyrian Empire ** Neo-Assyrian Empire * Assyrian ...

and was born in

. He currently resides in

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

, Canada. He trains at McGrorys Boxing club in Hamilton. He is a six time Canadian Champion. Shiba was 2006 Rookie of the Year and 2006 Athlete of the Year. He has appeared in the

Pan American Games The Pan American Games (also known colloquially as the Pan Am Games) is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas featuring summer sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The competition is held ...

and

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

. He has also been in some

AIBA World Boxing Championships The IBA World Boxing Championships, and the IBA Women's World Boxing Championships (previously known as AIBA), are biennial amateur boxing competitions organised by the International Boxing Association (IBA), which is the sport governing body. ...

and

Summer Olympic Games The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...

qualifiers.

Boxing career

Shiba started boxing when he was around 11 years old and has been boxing since 1997 with the same coaches at the same boxing club, McGrory's Boxing Club in Hamilton. He was a junior boxer for six years and won two Junior Canadian Championships. The first championship that Isho won was in February 2004 in Quebec. "It was a great feeling to win after all the hard work and dedication." The second championship was in February 2005 in

Brantford, Ontario Brantford ( 2021 population: 104,688) is a city in Ontario, Canada, founded on the Grand River in Southwestern Ontario. It is surrounded by Brant County, but is politically separate with a municipal government of its own that is fully independ ...

. In January 2006, Shiba became a senior boxer. The first senior championship he participated in was the Ontario Championships. In November 2005, he won a gold medal in the Ontario Championships. In January 2006, Shiba went to the Canadian Championships in St. Catharines, Ontario, as a 54 kg boxer. He competed against a four-time Canadian Champion and defeated him to become the new champion. He won the award for 2006 Best Rookie of the year and also 2006 Best Athlete of the year. Shiba travelled to Iraq in March 2012 to fight for the Iraqi national team. He stayed at a training camp in

. The Iraqi Olympic Association could not finalise his papers in time for the 2012 Summer Olympics Qualifiers in Kazakhstan so he was not able to compete there.

Personal life

Shiba stated in an interview that his heroes are

Oscar De La Hoya Oscar De La Hoya ( , ; born on February 4, 1973) is an American boxing promoter and former professional boxer who competed from 1992 to 2008. His accolades include winning 11 world titles in six weight classes, including the lineal championshi ...

Marco Antonio Barrera Marco Antonio Barrera Tapia (born January 17, 1974) is a Mexican former professional boxer who competed from 1989 to 2011. He held multiple world championships in three weight classes, including the WBO junior featherweight title twice betwe ...

, and his longtime coach Vinnie Ryan. Shiba is an Assyrian. He left Iraq at a young age due to the

Iran–Iraq War The Iran–Iraq War was an armed conflict between Iran and Iraq that lasted from September 1980 to August 1988. It began with the Iraqi invasion of Iran and lasted for almost eight years, until the acceptance of United Nations Security Council ...

in the 1980s. His family ran to

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

and stayed in a

refugee camp A refugee camp is a temporary settlement built to receive refugees and people in refugee-like situations. Refugee camps usually accommodate displaced people who have fled their home country, but camps are also made for internally displaced peo ...

for several months until fleeing to

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

for a year until they were accepted into Canada in 1989. His parents, Isho Shiba Sr. and Polin, are both from the villages in the

Barwari Barwari ( syr, ܒܪܘܪ, ku, به‌رواری, Berwarî) is a region in the Hakkari mountains in northern Iraq and southeastern Turkey. The region is inhabited by Assyrians and Kurds, and was formerly also home to a number of Jews prior to the ...

Region of Northern Iraq in the

Dohuk Governorate ar, محافظة دهوك , image_skyline = Collage_of_Dohuk_Governorate.jpg , imagesize = , image_caption = , image_flag = , image_seal = ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shiba, Isho Living people Sportspeople from Baghdad Canadian people of Assyrian descent 1986 births Iraqi emigrants to Canada Canadian male boxers Boxing people from Ontario Commonwealth Games competitors for Canada Boxers at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Pan American Games competitors for Canada Boxers at the 2007 Pan American Games Lightweight boxers