Toshiyuki Igarashi: Japan’s WBC Flyweight Champion
Toshiyuki Igarashi won the WBC flyweight world championship on 16 July 2012, defeating defending champion Sonny Boy Jaro by split decision in Japan. Igarashi had represented Japan in Olympic boxing at Athens 2004.
From Olympic boxing to the professional ranks
Igarashi’s career connected Japan’s amateur boxing team with the professional flyweight division. A southpaw from Yurihonjo in Akita Prefecture, he appeared at the Athens Olympics before making his professional debut in August 2006. He began that professional campaign with a third-round knockout of Yun-Woo Kim.
Domestic championships preceded his world title opportunity. Igarashi held the interim Japanese flyweight title in 2008 and captured the Japanese flyweight championship in February 2011. Later that year, a unanimous decision over Wilbert Uicab in a WBC eliminator moved him into position to challenge Jaro.
World championship reign
The July 2012 title fight lasted all 12 rounds. Two judges favored Igarashi, with scores of 116–112 and 115–113, while the third scored it 116–112 for Jaro. That split decision transferred the WBC championship to Igarashi.
He defended the belt against Nestor Narvaez on 3 November 2012, winning a majority decision. His reign ended on 8 April 2013 when fellow Japanese boxer Akira Yaegashi defeated him unanimously over 12 rounds. Igarashi later pursued another world championship against WBO flyweight titleholder Sho Kimura in December 2017, losing by stoppage in the ninth round. These dated results place the embedded Jaro contest in its correct 2012 championship context.
The WBC documents the title win, and Olympedia records his Olympic appearance. Sources: Japanese career record; BoxRec title history; [1] [2]
Sources
Tags
Boxing, Boxing History
