By Joe Koizumi

More aggressive Kiryl Relikh (23-2, 19 KOs), 140, Belarus, kept his WBA super-lightweight belt as he defeated former titlist Eduard Troyanovsky (27-2, 24 KOs), Russia, 139.25, by a unanimous decision (all 115-113) over twelve monotonous rounds on Sunday in Yokohama, Japan. The referee was Guillermo Perez (Panama). Relikh kept taking the initiative, stalking the defensive Russian all the way. Troyanovsky looked to have failed to bring his fighting spirit from Russia, but he started his engine down the stretch at last. But we saw Relikh’s victory was more unanimous than the official tallies, and it was surprising that the scores were identically so close.

(More to come)