By Joe Koizumi

Fast-rising WBO #7 Ryota Yamauchi (8-1, 7 KOs), 112, decked a fine TKO victory over compatriot Yuta Nakayama (8-4-1, 5 KOs), 112, at 1:29 of the seventh round in a scheduled twelve to keep his WBO Asia Pacific flyweight belt on Thursday in Tokyo, Japan.

Yamauchi, a hard-punching prospect with a university amateur career, proved too strong and sharp in flooring Nakayama in the second, fifth and fatal seventh. The challenger fought back hard, but it was Yamauchi that connected with more effective shots that finally prompted the referee’s intervention after the loser’s third visit to the deck.

Yamauchi had suffered only a setback at the hand of Wulan Tuolohazi after each hitting the deck in China in 2019, but improved so well that he acquired the vacant WBO AP belt by dispatching Satoru Todaka in three quick sessions last August. This was his initial defense since.

Promoter: Kadoebi Jewel Promotions.