By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Naoki Fukuda

Unbeaten WBO Asia Pacific lightweight champ, WBO#9 Shuichiro Yoshino (16-0, 12 KOs), 135, impressively kept his regional belt as he withstood the opening attack of WBC#10 six-footer Masayoshi Nakatani (20-3, 14 KOs), 134.5, and finally caught up with him to score a fine KO victory at 1:14 of the sixth round in a scheduled twelve on Tuesday in Saitama, Japan.

Having decked an upset stoppage over Felix Verdejo in Las Vegas in 2020, the elongated Nakatani had an ambitious opportunity to exchange gloves with Vasyl Lomachenko despite a ninth-round TKO defeat in June of the previous year. Making his third defense, Yoshino solved his foe’s long and persistent jabs and came close to him in the short range in round five, when he connected with a vicious overhand right to the face. Down went Nakatani. The fatal sixth saw Yoshino, a persistent combination puncher, explode a wicked right to drop him again. The loser’s corner signaled a surrender by waving a towel on the apron, and it was registered as a knockout, not a TKO, since the JBC rules say a towel during the referee’s count should result in a knockout.

Teiken Promotions.

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