Taduran remains IBF king

PEDRO Taduran proved that he’s the rightful owner of the International Boxing Federation (IBF) minimumweight title after beating Ginjiro Shigeoka in their rematch Saturday, May 24, 2025, at Intex Osaka in Osaka, Japan.

After 12 rounds of action, the 28-year-old Taduran secured a split decision victory to retain his IBF title.

Japanese judge Katsuhiko Nakamura scored the bout decisively in Taduran’s favor, 118-110, while Filipino judge Gil Co saw it much closer at 115-113 for his countryman. American judge Dave Braslow, however, saw the fight differently and had it 115-113 for Shigeoka.

It was a grueling 12-round fight, with both fighters having their moments. Shigeoka rallied late in the fight but still fell short.

The 25-year-old Shigeoka had to be lifted out of the ring on a stretcher and received immediate attention from the medical staff after the brutal contest.

This marks Taduran’s second victory over Shigeoka in just 10 months. In their first meeting, Taduran dethroned Shigeoka by stopping him in the ninth round.

Taduran is now 18-4-1 with 13 knockouts, while Shigeoka dropped to 11-2 with nine knockouts.

Taduran is one of only two world champions from the Philippines. The other one is World Boxing Council (WBC) minimumweight titleholder Melvin Jerusalem, who incidentally defeated Shigeoka’s older brother Yudai Shigeoka twice.

Meanwhile, Vencent Lacar sufferd his first career defeat after a fifth-round stoppage at the hands of Ryo Mandokoro in the undercard.

Mandokoro overwhelmed Lacar near the corner, landing a series of unanswered shots that prompted the referee to step in and stop the fight at the 2:05 mark of the fifth round.

Lacar fell to 9-1 with four knockouts, while Mandokoro remained undefeated at 6-0 with four knockouts. / EKA