TOKYO — Yota Sato defeated fellow Japanese boxer Ryo Akaho by a unanimous decision victory to defend the World Boxing Council (WBC) super-flyweight title Monday. Three judges scored it 117-111, 117-112 and 118-110, all in favor of the defending champion. It was Sato's second defense of the title he wrested from Suriyan Sor Rungvisai of Thailand in March, improving his record to 26 wins, including 12 KOs, against two defeats and a draw. Akaho, who is ranked fifth in the WBC, now has 19 wins including 12 KOs, against one defeat and two draws. Uchiyama defends crown Japan's Takashi Uchiyama pulled off a technical knockout victory over Bryan Vasquez of Costa Rica to win a unification bout in the World Boxing Association (WBA) super-featherweight title also Monday. Uchiyama piled up the points by pummeling Vasquez with lefts and rights to the stomach, and finished off the fight three minutes into the eighth round, unloading punch after punch. It was Uchiyama's sixth defense of the title, which he wrested from Juan Carlos Salgado of Mexico in January 2010, maintaining his unbeaten record at 19 wins, including 16 KOs and one draw. Ioka wins Japan's Kazuto Ioka overwhelmed Jose Rodriguez of Mexico by a technical knockout victory in the sixth round to take the vacant World Boxing Association (WBA) light-flyweight title. Ioka, former WBC strawweight and WBA minimumweight champion, knocked down Rodriguez in the first round with a left hook to the body. He sent him to the floor twice more in the sixth round, with the referee stopping the fight at two minutes 50 seconds, after the second knock-down. Miyazaki beats Pornsawan Japan's Ryo Miyazaki pounded out a split decision victory over Pornsawan Porpramook of Thailand to win the vacant World Boxing Association (WBA) minimumweight title. Two judges scored the bout 116-112 and 116-111 in favor of Miyazaki, while the third marked it 114-113 for Pornsawan. Miyazaki, 24, who is ranked WBA minimumweight No. 2, improved his record to 18 wins, including 10 KOs and three draws, while Pornsawan, ranked fourth, has now 27 wins, including 17 KOs, against five defeats and a draw. Kono KOs Tepparith Japan's Kohei Kono knocked out title-holder Tepparith Kokietgym of Thailand to win the World Boxing Association (WBA) super-flyweight title. The eighth-ranked Japanese fighter finished off the Thai champ two minutes and eight seconds into the fourth round, after sending him to the floor three times. It 32-year-old Kono's third attempt at a world title, stretching his record to 28 wins, including 11 KOs, against seven defeats. Tepparith, who has beaten champions Drian Francisco of the Philippines, and Japan's Daiki Kameda, Tomonobu Shimizu and Nobuo Nashiro previously, sees his record now stand at 21 wins, including 13 KOs, against three defeats. — Agencies
