is a Japanese professional

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 ...

in the

super flyweight Super flyweight, also referred to as junior bantamweight, is a boxing weight classes, weight class in professional boxing, contested from and up to . History The first title match in this division was in 1980, when the World Boxing Council respond ...

(115 lb) division as well as the WBA super flyweight champion.

Early life

Nashiro took an interest in boxing during elementary school, when his father took him to a boxing match for the first time. He became a fan of WBC Bantamweight champion

Joichiro Tatsuyoshi is a former World Boxing Council (WBC) world bantamweight champion from Kurashiki, Okayama, Japan. His record is 20–7–1 (14 KOs). He is popular for his fight style and unique personality, and has appeared in several television variety shows ...

, and entered his school's track team to build up his stamina. He was finally allowed to begin boxing in high school, and continued to

Kinki University is a private non-sectarian and coeducational university based in Higashiosaka, Osaka, Japan with campuses in five other locations: Nara, Nara; Ōsakasayama, Osaka; Uchita, Wakayama; Higashihiroshima, Hiroshima; and Iizuka, Fukuoka. The En ...

, but dropped out to begin his professional career. His brother

Yuji Nashiro Yuji or Yu Ji may refer to: * Yuji Naka, is a Japanese video game programmer, designer and producer * Yu Ji (painter), a Qing dynasty painter and calligrapher * Yūji, a common masculine Japanese given name * Consort Yu (Xiang Yu's wife) (虞姬; ...

is a professional kickboxer.

Early career

Nashiro made his debut in

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...

in July 2003, knocking out his opponent only 32 seconds into the first round. He won three more fights, and fought Hidenobu Honda in August 2004. Honda was a world ranker at the time, and had challenged

Pongsaklek Wonjongkam Pongsaklek Wonjongkam ( th, พงษ์ศักดิ์เล็ก วันจงคำ; born: 11 August 1977) is a former Thai professional boxer and current boxing trainer. He is a two-time former lineal flyweight champion. During his fi ...

and

Alexander Muñoz Alexander Muñoz (born February 8, 1979) is a Venezuelan professional boxer who has held the WBA super flyweight title twice; from 2002 to 2004, and from 2007 to 2008. He also challenged for the WBA bantamweight title in 2010. Muñoz's strong p ...

in world title matches. Nashiro won by 10 round unanimous decision, becoming a world ranker in only his 5th professional fight, and was hailed by boxing fans as one of the top prospects in Japan.

Tragedy

On April 3, 2005, Nashiro fought Japanese Super flyweight champion Seiji Tanaka. The two had often sparred and trained together, and Nashiro won by TKO in the 10th round, winning the title. However, Tanaka dropped into a coma after the fight, and died two weeks later from a

subdural hematoma A subdural hematoma (SDH) is a type of bleeding in which a Hematoma, collection of blood—usually but not always associated with a traumatic brain injury—gathers between the inner layer of the dura mater and the arachnoid mater of the meninges ...

. Nashiro went into a sort of shock state after Tanaka's death, and seriously contemplated retirement from the guilt he felt. He kept himself away from boxing for over a month, until he met Tanaka's father at Masamori Tokuyama's WBC title defense. Tanaka's father told Nashiro to not worry about what happened to his son, and to continue his boxing career. Nashiro paid a visit to Tanaka's grave in Tottori, Japan, to pay his respects, after defending the title won from Tanaka. Nashiro's struggle was documented on an episode of the Japanese TV show ''Kiseki Taiken! Unbelievabou!'' aired on February 22, 2007.

World title

Nashiro defended his title in November 2005, winning by 10-round decision, and became the top ranked contender in the WBA Super flyweight division. He returned his Japanese Super flyweight title, and fought

Martín Castillo José Martín Castillo (born 13 January 1977) is a Mexican former professional boxer. He represented his native country of Mexico at the 1996 Summer Olympics, and is a former World Boxing Association (WBA) Super Flyweight champion. Amateur care ...

in July 2006 for the WBA Super flyweight title. Nashiro won the fight by Martin Castillo having hevnling bleeding in the 10th round, becoming a world champion in only his 8th professional fight. This tied

's record as the fastest Japanese fighter to become world champion. Nashiro could have beaten the record by challenging the world title in his 7th fight, but defended the Japanese Super flyweight title once to show respect for the deceased Tanaka. Nashiro made his first defense in December 2006, against Eduardo Garcia of Mexico. Nashiro won by 12 round unanimous decision to retain his title. Garcia had previously been invited to Japan as Nashiro's sparring partner when he was training for his fight against

. Nashiro fought former WBA super flyweight champion

on May 3, 2007, at the

Ariake Coliseum is an indoor sporting arena in located in Ariake, Kōtō, Tokyo, Japan. It has a capacity of 10,000 and is one of the few professional tennis venues which has a retractable roof. Events The arena is used as the center court for the Japan O ...

in Tokyo, Japan, for his second defense. Muñoz completely overpowered Nashiro, winning the title by unanimous decision. This was the first loss of Nashiro's career.

Title regained

On September 15, 2008, Nashiro regained the WBA super flyweight title by the split decision victory over fellow Japanese Kohei Kono. Prior to this bout, the title became vacant because Munoz lost it to WBC champion Cristian Mijares who unified it. He defended that title in an optional defense on April 11, 2009, with TKO victory over fellow-Japanese Konosuke Tomiyama. Although he stopped Tomiyama, Nashiro was downed twice in separate rounds. On September 30, 2009, Nashiro fought Hugo Cázares to a draw. On May 8, 2010, Nahiro lost the WBA super flyweight title in his rematch against Hugo Cázares.

References