Former ladies’s boxing champion makes comeback as man after transitioning

Dec 15, 2023 at 6:56 PM
Former ladies’s boxing champion makes comeback as man after transitioning

Shindo Go, the previous WBC feminine flyweight champion, made his debut as a male boxer in a semi-official take a look at battle in opposition to Katsuyuki Ishibashi on Sunday. Despite a robust displaying from Go, Ishibashi gained the battle by unanimous choice after three bantamweight rounds of three minutes. 

Go powered by means of the primary two rounds, typically protecting Ishibashi on his heels earlier than the third interval. In the ultimate spherical, Ishibashi caught Go unfocused with a left hook and dropped the latter to the mat. 

Although the 36-year-old received up shortly, he misplaced the spherical 10-8 and ultimately the match. After the battle, the JBC’s Tsuyoshi Yasukochi stated that as a result of Go acquired his license as a male boxer, the JBC ought to “consider licensing him” as nicely. 

Because the match wasn’t official, the loss will not depend towards Go’s general win-loss file, which at present stands at 16-4 with 11 knockouts earlier than he transitioned. 

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Before transitioning to a male in 2017, Go was the WBC feminine flyweight champion after making his debut in 2008 in opposition to former beginner Japanese champion Masae Akitaya, shedding by way of unanimous choice. After shedding his debut, Go gained 10 straight fights from 2008 to 2012 earlier than going up in opposition to Mariana Juarez for the WBC World Flyweight title. 

Go misplaced to Juarez by way of break up choice. Still, the boxer was capable of win the title after beating Renata Szebeledi in 2013, by way of unanimous choice. This was throughout a stretch the place Go gained 4 straight. 

The champion misplaced his title in opposition to Arely Mucino in 2014 and would win the subsequent two contests. In his remaining battle in June 2016, Go misplaced to Naoko Fujioka in a unanimous choice.

In July 2017, Go – previously often called Megumi Hashimoto – was reported to have had intercourse rearrangement surgical procedure, modified his household registry and deliberate to retire because of this. In October of the identical yr, Go introduced his first retirement, although he stored the door open for a possible comeback as a male fighter. 

When Go introduced his intention to battle male boxers after transitioning, WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman defined that it’s a “very delicate” scenario due to the variations between female and male our bodies. “Women are 80 percent or so more susceptible to suffer a concussion than men and all symptoms are much higher and more dangerous,” Sulaiman told World Boxing News in 2017.

After presenting formulation to clarify why ladies shouldn’t be allowed to battle males, Sulaiman did say that the group will look into the scenario and take it because it goes. “The WBC is looking into this topic and until there is no medical justification, the WBC cannot allow Shindo Go to fight versus a man,” Sulaiman stated. 

Fast ahead six years later to 2023 and Go has been capable of fulfill the purpose of competing as a male fighter. Though the battle was a semi-official take a look at, it proved that Go can go toe to toe with a person for 3 full rounds.