Shinji Takehara

Shinji Takehara
Shinji Takehara
Statistics
Real name	Shinji Takehara
Weight(s)	Middleweight
Height	185 cm (6 ft 1 in)
Nationality	Japanese
Born	January 25, 1972 (age 49); Fuchū, Hiroshima, Japan
Stance	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	25
Wins	24
Wins by KO	18
Losses	1
Draws	0
No contests	0

Shinji Takehara (竹原慎二, Takehara Shinji, born January 25, 1972 in Fuchū, Hiroshima) is a former professional boxer in the Middleweight (160lb) division. He was the first boxer from Japan to capture a World Middleweight Title.

Takehara turned pro in 1989 and had a relatively short professional career, spanning only seven years. In 1995 he landed a shot at the WBA Middleweight Title against Jorge Fernando Castro and won by decision. Takehara lost the belt in his only defeat during his first defense to William Joppy in a 9th-round TKO. He was overwhelmed in the first round and appeared unable to determine incoming attacks. Ringside doctors examination discovered Takehara had posterior vitreous detachment which progressed into retinal detachment and subsequently forced him into retirement.^[1]

Childhood and early career[]

Takehara got into numerous street fights during his teens. He briefly played baseball before joining the school judo team. Takehara did not move on to high school, after graduating middle school, he moved to Tokyo in 1988 to start a boxing career. He took numerous part-time jobs while training, including working as a cleaning man at Yokohama Arena, where he would later make his first (and only) title defense of the WBA Middleweight Title.

Professional career[]

Takehara made his debut on May 15, 1989 with a 4th-round KO victory. He went on to win the Japanese Middleweight Title in 1991, defending it three times. He won the vacant OPBF Middleweight Title in 1993, which he defended six times.

Takehara got a shot against WBA Middleweight Champion Jorge Castro, who had a record of 98-4-2 at the time and had made five title defenses. 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. Regardless, 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.

The win against Castro generated huge media hype, and Takehara's title defense took place in Yokohama Arena on June 24, 1996 against William Joppy. Though both fighters were undefeated, Takehara was once again the underdog, and Joppy announced that he would win easily by KO. The fight was a disaster for Takehara, who was knocked down in the 1st, and lost by TKO in the 9th when the referee stopped the fight, giving up the middleweight title in half a year. 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 Takehara much earlier if he had wanted.

While preparing for his next fight, Takehara was diagnosed with a detached retina. This forced him to retire from boxing at only 24 years of age. His record was 24-1-0 (18KOs).

Legacy[]

Winning a world middleweight title had been regarded as impossible for any Japanese boxer, since the division had featured some of the sports best champions, including Sugar Ray Leonard, Roberto Durán, Marvin Hagler, and Thomas Hearns. Though Takehara lost in his first defense, William Joppy remained a top middleweight contender for more than seven years after beating Takehara. Joppy remarked before his fight against Félix Trinidad that Takehara punched the hardest of any of the fighters he had faced. Takehara is now known more for his success after retiring from boxing, but his short career has left an important legacy on Japanese boxing.

Post retirement[]

Few people knew Takehara as a former world champion, and he had to rely on part-time jobs to maintain a living. After years of mediocre living, Takehara achieved immense popularity in 2000 after appearing on the variety show "Gachinko Fight Club." The show is similar to The Contender in concept, where the lives of aspiring boxers are documented as they go through hard training and life struggles. The show produced 12 professional boxers during its three-year run, and Takehara's role as the tough but fair-minded trainer was central to the show's success, allowing Takehara to pursue further opportunities in the television business. Since then, he has appeared on numerous variety and talk shows, and has even guest-starred in a TV drama series and released a rap CD. Takehara's blog and column in the Yahoo! Japan web magazine enjoy great popularity. IN 2014 he was diagnosed with bladder cancer and underwent treatment that left him in remission since 2015.

Professional boxing record[]

Professional record summary hide
25 fights	24 wins	1 loss
By knockout	18	1
By decision	6	0

No.	Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round, time	Date	Location	Notes
25	Loss	24–1	William Joppy	TKO	9 (12) 2:29	1996–06–24	Yokohama Arena, Yokohama, Kanagawa	Lost WBA middleweight title
24	Win	24–0	Jorge Castro	UD	12	1995–12–19	Korakuen Hall, Tokyo	Won WBA middleweight title
23	Win	23–0	Lee Shung-Chun	PTS	12	1995–09–12	Tokyo	Retained OPBF Middleweight title.
22	Win	22–0	Park Young-Ki	KO	1 (12)	1995–04–17	Tokyo	Retained OPBF Middleweight title.
21	Win	21–0	Craig Trotter	KO	7 (12)	1994–12–19	Tokyo	Retained OPBF Middleweight title.
20	Win	20–0	Lee Hyun-Sik	PTS	12	1994–09–18	Yoyogi National Gymnasium, Tokyo	Retained OPBF Middleweight title.
19	Win	19–0	Alex Tui	KO	7 (12)	1994–06–12	Hiroshima, Hiroshima	Retained OPBF Middleweight title.
18	Win	18–0	Noli de Guia	KO	1 (?) 1:52	1994–02–21	Tokyo
17	Win	17–0	Nico Toriri	KO	6 (12)	1993–11–22	Tokyo	Retained OPBF Middleweight title.
16	Win	16–0	Lee Sung-Chun	KO	12	1993–05–24 2:38	Tokyo	Won vacant OPBF Middleweight title.
15	Win	15–0	Satoshi Yokozaki	KO	5 (10)	1993–02–15	Tokyo	Retained Japanese Middleweight title.
14	Win	14–0	Biney Martin	UD	10	1992–08–17	Tokyo	Retained Japanese Middleweight title.
13	Win	13–0	Yoshinori Nishizawa	PTS	10	1992–05–17	Tokyo	Retained Japanese Middleweight title.
12	Win	12–0	Hisashi Teraji	KO	2 (10) 2:47	1992–02–17	Tokyo	Retained Japanese Middleweight title.
11	Win	11–0	Takehito Saijo	KO	7 (10)	1991–10–28	Tokyo	Won Japanese Middleweight title.
10	Win	10–0	Jiro Kashiwara	KO	4 (?)	1991–07–15	Tokyo
9	Win	9–0	Tomoo Suzuki	KO	1 (?)	1991–02–18	Tokyo
8	Win	8–0	Park Keon-Soo	KO	1 (?)	1990–11–26	Korakuen Hall, Tokyo
7	Win	7–0	Satoshi Yokozaki	KO	10	1990–07–30	Tokyo
6	Win	6–0	Haruhisa Tokuda	KO	2 (?)	1990–02–18	Osaka, Osaka
5	Win	5–0	Biney Martin	PTS	6	1989–12–23	Tokyo
4	Win	4–0	Yoshihiro Kitada	KO	1 (?)	1989–11–10	Tokyo
3	Win	3–0	Kiyoshi Hirayama	KO	1 (?)	1989–09–18	Tokyo
2	Win	2–0	Kiyoshi Hirayama	KO	2 (?)	1989–07–17	Tokyo
1	Win	1–0	Masao Tadano	KO	4 (?)	1989–05–15	Korakuen Hall, Tokyo