By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Naoki Fukuda

Elongated southpaw Kun-Tae Lee (8-0-1, 2 KOs; amateur mark 102-10), 140, successfully kept his Japanese 140-pound belt as he defeated Ryan Joshua Yamamoto (7-7, 1 KO), 139.25, by a unanimous decision (99-91 twice, 100-90) over ten on Saturday at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan. Lee, a Japan-based Korean who had scored sixty-two consecutive victories to make it a national amateur mark, was in command almost all the way, but the challenger occasionally showed his strong heart to withstand the champ’s faster and more accurate combos and gamely retaliated toe-to-toe, winning the fifth round. Despite his retaliation Lee swept the second half and had him at bay down the stretch. In the super light category, in Japan, the 5’11” Lee may face tough opposition in the future against WBA mandatory contender Ghanan-Japanese Andy Hiraoka (24-0, 19 KOs), OPBF and WBO AP ruler Daishi Nagata, unbeaten JBC contenders #1 Kotaro Sekine (9-0-1, 8 KOs) and #2 Mikyo Watarai (5-0, 3 KOs; amateur mark 77-15, 19 KOs).

Promoter: Teiken Promotions.

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