Japan’s Kazuto Ioka pulled off a technical knockout victory over unbeaten Oleydong Sithsamerchai of Thailand to become the new World Boxing Council (WBC) straw-weight champion on Friday.
The knockout time came 1 minute 7 seconds into the fifth round.
“I tried not to think about the record,” said Ioka, who became the fastest champion among former and current Japanese world champions by winning it in his seventh bout.
PHOTO: REUTERS
“I knew all the records would be mine if I win this match. I was a bit anxious, but I’m really happy,” he said.
“My uncle [former champion Hiroki] didn’t get the title back, he lost it. So I’m really happy that I was able to win it back. Everything went well as we had planned. My next goal is to win four different classes,” he added.
Both fighters connected some punches from the first round and Ioka scored a knockdown in the second round when he unleashed a left hook to the face.
Oleydong retaliated with a powerful right to the stomach in the following round, but Ioka fired a right straight to the face in the fourth.
Ioka led 38-37, 40-35, 37-38 after the four rounds.
The referee stopped the fight when Ioka hit a left to the stomach to floor the Thai champion, who could not move on the mat.
The 21-year-old Japanese, ranked 10th in the WBC, stretched his unbeaten record to seven wins, including five KOs, since making a professional debut in April 2009.
It was the first severe taste of defeat for Oleydong, who now has 39 wins, including 14 KOs, against one defeat and a draw. He became the champion in November 2007 by beating his compatriot Den Janlaphan.
VIJENDER SINGH
Reuters, MUMBAI, India
Indian boxer Vijender Singh earned bronze medals at the World and Asian championships in 2009, but he has a fight on his hands getting money from his state government.
The boxer, who also won bronze at the Beijing Olympics and gold at last year’s Asian Games, has been unable to get his hands on prize money promised to him by the Haryana State Government.
The state’s sports department has asked Singh to prove he won the bronze medals in 2009 to claim his reward.
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