By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Naoki Fukuda

Former IBF 122-pound challenger Ryohei Takahashi (17-4-1, 6 KOs), 122, halted Korean Jin-Wook Lim (10-7-5, 3 KOs), 122, due to the loser’s eardrum ruptured after the fifth round in a scheduled eight on Tuesday in Tokyo, Japan.

Takahashi had tasted a bitter setback by an eleventh round stoppage at the hand of TJ Doheny in quest of the IBF junior feather belt in New York this January, he appeared after a five-month hiatus and displayed his new style of hit-and-run tactics although he used to be a busy-punching pugnacious banger. Having piled up points steadily, he found Lim retire on the stool after the fifth to celebrate his comebacking victory.

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