By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Naoki Fukuda

IBF atomweight champ Saemi Hanagata (16-7-4, 7 KOs) barely kept her belt by eking out a split decision (96-94 twice for Hanagata, 94-96 for Ikeyama) over 49-year-old ex-titlist Nao Ikeyama (18-6-4, 5 KOs) over ten give-and-take rounds on Thursday in Tokyo, Japan. It was their third encounter with Saemi scoring a victory for the first time after a couple of draws.

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