Phil D. Jay
WBN Editor
Two world titles were successfully defended in Japan, whilst one changed hands and two other vacant championships were claimed in an end of year Asian blockbuster on New Year’s Eve.
Firstly, WBA super-featherweight champion Takashi Uchiyama retained his WBA super-featherweight belt with an eighth round stoppage win over previously undefeated Costa Rican Bryan Vasquez at the Ota-City Gym in Osaka.
Uchiyama, 33, improved his own unbeaten record to 19-0-1 as the long-time title holder proved to be a step too far for 25 year-old Vasquez, who drops to 29-1 and returns home empty handed.
Also on the bill, Yota Sato kept a firm grip on the WBC super-flyweight title belt with a successful second defence to out-point Ryo Akaho with scores of 118-110, 117-111 and 117-112.
The surprise of the night came when nearly-man Kohei Kono won the world title at the third time of asking by knocking Tepparith Kokietgym down three times in the fourth round to rip away his WBA super-flyweight belt.
The 32 year-old had failed in bids against Tomas Rojas in 2010 and Nobuo Nashiro in 2008, but was not to be denied again and now boasts a record of 28-7 after scoring his eleventh career stoppage.
At the Bodymaker Colosseum in Osaka, Kazuto Ioka improved on his ever-increasing reputation by becoming a two-weight world champion in just eleven fights by stopping Mexican Jose Rodriguez in six rounds.
Ioka, 23, picked up his first world title in just his seventh fight early last year, before unifying the title in the summer and has now cracked the WBN Pound for pound Top 50 with his latest achievement.
On the undercard, Ryo Miyazaki kept his unbeaten run in-tact as he became the WBA minimumweight champion by defeating former belt holder Pornsawan Porpramook via a split decision 116-111, 116-112, 113-114.
Miyazaki, 24, improved to 18-0-3 with a career-best performance, whilst Porpramook failed to pick up a world title for the fifth time in six attempts – dropping a fifth career loss in 33 contests in the process.
WBN Editor
Five belts on the line in Japan
Two world titles were successfully defended in Japan, whilst one changed hands and two other vacant championships were claimed in an end of year Asian blockbuster on New Year’s Eve.
Firstly, WBA super-featherweight champion Takashi Uchiyama retained his WBA super-featherweight belt with an eighth round stoppage win over previously undefeated Costa Rican Bryan Vasquez at the Ota-City Gym in Osaka.
Uchiyama, 33, improved his own unbeaten record to 19-0-1 as the long-time title holder proved to be a step too far for 25 year-old Vasquez, who drops to 29-1 and returns home empty handed.
Also on the bill, Yota Sato kept a firm grip on the WBC super-flyweight title belt with a successful second defence to out-point Ryo Akaho with scores of 118-110, 117-111 and 117-112.
The surprise of the night came when nearly-man Kohei Kono won the world title at the third time of asking by knocking Tepparith Kokietgym down three times in the fourth round to rip away his WBA super-flyweight belt.
The 32 year-old had failed in bids against Tomas Rojas in 2010 and Nobuo Nashiro in 2008, but was not to be denied again and now boasts a record of 28-7 after scoring his eleventh career stoppage.
At the Bodymaker Colosseum in Osaka, Kazuto Ioka improved on his ever-increasing reputation by becoming a two-weight world champion in just eleven fights by stopping Mexican Jose Rodriguez in six rounds.
Ioka, 23, picked up his first world title in just his seventh fight early last year, before unifying the title in the summer and has now cracked the WBN Pound for pound Top 50 with his latest achievement.
On the undercard, Ryo Miyazaki kept his unbeaten run in-tact as he became the WBA minimumweight champion by defeating former belt holder Pornsawan Porpramook via a split decision 116-111, 116-112, 113-114.
Miyazaki, 24, improved to 18-0-3 with a career-best performance, whilst Porpramook failed to pick up a world title for the fifth time in six attempts – dropping a fifth career loss in 33 contests in the process.