MANILA – Filipino boxer Pedro Taduran successfully retained the IBF world minimumweight championship following a split decision victory over Japanese fighter Ginjiro Shigeoka in their rematch on Saturday at Intex Osaka, Japan.
The 28-year-old Taduran defended his title after receiving scores of 115-113 and 118-110 from two judges, while the third judge favored Shigeoka with a score of 115-113.
Taduran immediately showcased his prowess in the early rounds, but Shigeoka managed to recover and counterattack in the subsequent rounds, keeping the match competitive.
Taduran attempted to knock down Shigeoka in the latter part of the fight, but the Japanese fighter evaded him by moving away from the Filipino.
This marks the second time Taduran has triumphed over Shigeoka, having previously won by ninth-round technical knockout in their first encounter in July 2024 to claim the IBF title.
With this victory, Taduran improved his boxing record to 18 wins, 4 losses, and 1 draw, including 13 wins by knockout.
Shigeoka’s record, on the other hand, fell to 11 wins and 2 losses, with nine of those victories coming by way of knockout.
In the undercard, Filipino fighter Vencent Lacar (9-1-0, 4 KOs) suffered his first defeat after losing by fifth-round technical knockout to Ryo Mandokoro of Japan (6-0-0, 4 KOs)./PN
