By Joe Koizumi

Shifty southpaw Japanese veteran Yuki Nonaka (35-10-3, 10 KOs), 160, retained his WBO Asia Pacific middleweight belt as he utilized his superior hand speed and footwork in scoring a nearly shutout decision (119-109 twice, 115-113) over Koki Koshikawa (9-3, 6 KOs), 160, over twelve unanimous rounds on Friday in Osaka, Japan.

Nonaka, a 43-year-old multi regional belt collector, gave a lesson to the monotonous comer with fast counters, piling up points steadily. Nonaka sustained slight cuts around the optics in the ninth and tenth, but kept on handling the game but slower challenger. The lefty champ is still willing to have an ambitious shot at any of world 160-pound titlists.

Promoter: Taisei Promotions.