Nobuo Nashiro

Nobuo Nashiro
Nashiro (left) with Tepparith Singwancha on August 31, 2012
Statistics
Real name	Nobuo Nashiro
Rated at	Super flyweight
Height	5 ft. 4 in. (162 cm.)
Nationality	Japanese
Born	(1981-10-12) October 12, 1981 (age 35) Nara, Nara, Japan
Stance	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	26
Wins	19
Wins by KO	13
Losses	6
Draws	1
No contests	0

Nobuo Nashiro (名城 信男, born October 12, 1981 in Nara, Japan) is a professional boxer in the Super flyweight (115 lb) division as well as the WBA super flyweight champion.

Nashiro took an interest in boxing during elementary school, when his father took him to a boxing match for the first time. He became a fan of WBC Bantamweight champion Joichiro Tatsuyoshi, and entered his school's track team to build up his stamina. He was finally allowed to begin boxing in high school, and continued to Kinki University, but dropped out to begin his professional career. His brother Yuji Nashiro is a professional kickboxer.

Nashiro made his debut in Osaka on July, 2003, knocking out his opponent only 32 seconds into the first round. He won three more fights, and fought Hidenobu Honda in August, 2004. Honda was a world ranker at the time, and had challenged Pongsaklek Wonjongkam and Alexander Muñoz in world title matches. Nashiro won by 10 round unanimous decision, becoming a world ranker in only his 5th professional fight, and was hailed by boxing fans as one of the top prospects in Japan.

On April 3, 2005, Nashiro fought Japanese Super flyweight champion Seiji Tanaka. The two had often sparred and trained together, and Nashiro won by TKO in the 10th round, winning the title. However, Tanaka dropped into a coma after the fight, and died two weeks later from a subdural hematoma. Nashiro went into a sort of shock state after Tanaka's death, and seriously contemplated retirement from the guilt he felt. He kept himself away from boxing for over a month, until he met Tanaka's father at Masamori Tokuyama's WBC title defense. Tanaka's father told Nashiro to not worry about what happened to his son, and to continue his boxing career. Nashiro paid a visit to Tanaka's grave in Tottori, Japan to pay his respects, after defending the title won from Tanaka. Nashiro's struggle was documented on an episode of the Japanese TV show, "Kiseki Taiken! Unbelievabou!" aired on February 22, 2007.