 Shibata won his debut match in 1965 with a first round knockout, and fought for the Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation featherweight title in 1969, but lost by sixth-round knockout.In April 1970 he challenged for the vacant Japanese featherweight title, and won by tenth-round knockout.He relinquished the title to challenge WBC featherweight champion Vicente Saldivar, and won the title when Saldivar gave up after the twelfth round.