By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Naoki Fukuda

Game and crafty Jukiya Iimura (6-1, 2 KOs), 111.75, had a tough time coping with aggressive and agile Yuga Inoue (15-4-1, 3 KOs), 112, but finally retained his Japanese flyweight belt by a dramatic stoppage at 1:28 of the ninth round in a scheduled ten on Saturday in Tokyo, Japan. Iimura, a former amateur speedster, wrested the national belt from Josuke Nagata last July, and he registered his second defense to his credit. The champ scored a flash knockdown with a light left hook to the temple in round two, but the challenger furiously retaliated with all he had in every round since. The ninth and fatal session witnessed Jukiya dig a strong shot to the midsection to deck Yuga in agony so that he was obviously unable to raise himself and resume fighting. The ref promptly called a halt without completing the fatal ten. It was Iimura’s best performance in his short career without doubt.

Promoter: Teiken Promotions.

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