FORMER world champion Ginjiro Shigeoka underwent immediate surgery and has remained unconscious after suffering a severe brain injury.
The 25-year-old collided with IBF world minimumweight champion Pedro Taduran last Saturday, appearing on the undercard of Angelo Leo vs Tomoki Kameda.
Their immediate rematch followed Shigeoka’s ninth-round stoppage defeat of last July, with both combatants engaging in a far more closely-contested dustup this time around.
But despite producing a technically proficient performance, Shigeoka, 11-2 (9 KOs), ultimately found himself on the wrong side of a split decision in Osaka, Japan.
Just moments after the scorecards were read out, however, the slick southpaw seemed to lose consciousness in the ring and was later stretchered out of the arena.
At a local hospital, Shigeoka then underwent emergency brain surgery, with his condition remaining equally severe at the time of writing.
Japan Boxing Commission Secretary General Tsuyoshi Yasukochi, meanwhile, has now provided an update after receiving an official report from the hospital in Osaka.
“The definite information is that he has an acute right subdural hematoma,” Yasukochi told Japanese media at the JBC office in Tokyo.
“He underwent emergency craniotomy immediately after the match and is currently under observation. It will take about a week to know his condition. He is asleep under anaesthesia. We will continue to monitor his condition from now on.”
Regarding his career moving forward, it would appear that, due to JBC regulations, Shigeoka would not be permitted to continue fighting, even if he is to make a full recovery.
This is mostly due to concerns relating to brain swelling which, even after regaining consciousness, is likely to emerge as an ongoing issue for the Japanese combatant.
In the meantime, though, the most important thing for Shigeoka, and indeed his family, is for the young man to regain his health.
However, as Yasukochi has highlighted, further details regarding his condition are expected to become clearer in the next week or so.
