Unbeaten champion Takashi Uchiyama of Japan fended off a challenge from Israel Perez of Argentina on Wednesday to defend his WBA super featherweight title for the ninth time.
The veteran Japanese, 35, remained in control throughout the bout, sending a barrage of body punches towards his challenger, also 35, who kept his guard high. In the eighth and ninth rounds, Uchiyama showed off furious charges, putting Perez into a corner.
Perez was not able to return to the fight in the 10th round, awarding a technical knockout to the charismatic champion. The headline bout was a part of the WBA tripleheader at Ota Ward Gymnasium in Tokyo that also saw Ryoichi Taguchi of Japan rise to become the new light flyweight champion with a unanimous decision, dethroning Alberto Rossel of Peru.
Taguchi, making his first attempt at the world title, sent Rossel to the floor twice with a sizzling left body punch.
“It is truly incredible. I don’t have words to describe how I feel,” he told local media.
In the super flyweight category, Kohei Kono of Japan retained his belt by drawing with Norberto Jimenez of Dominican Republic.
“With my first defense of the title, I can continue boxing. I am so glad,” Kono told Japanese media.
In a western metropolis of Osaka, Katsunari Takayama of Japan beat compatriot Go Odaira with a seventh-round technical knockout to claim the minimumweight belts for both the IBF and the WBO at the Bodymaker Colosseum.
Also in Osaka, Cuban fighter Guillermo Rigondeaux survived two seventh-round knockdowns to retain his WBA-WBO super bantamweight belts with an 11th round technical knockout against Hisashi Amagasa of Japan, who was making his first attempt at the world title.
The Philadelphia 76ers, fueled by 36 points from Tyrese Maxey and a triple-double from Joel Embiid, on Thursday beat the Houston Rockets 128-122 in an NBA overtime thriller. Cameroonian big man Embiid scored 32 points, grabbed 15 rebounds and handed out 10 assists, posting the ninth triple-double of his career to help the Sixers end the Rockets’ three-game winning streak. Rockets star Kevin Durant scored 36 points and Amen Thompson added 17, but Thompson was scoreless in the fourth quarter. Even so, the Rockets led by nine midway through the final frame, Maxey tying it at 115-115 with 40.1 seconds left. Durant missed a
The Milwaukee Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo on Friday said that he will probably be out for an extended period after hurting his right calf again after a similar injury caused him to miss eight games earlier this season. Antetokounmpo had his right calf wrapped in the first half of their 102-100 loss to the Denver Nuggets. He did not appear comfortable the rest of the night and left for good with 34 seconds remaining. “At the end, I could not move no more, so I had to stop playing,” Antetokounmpo said. The two-time NBA Most Valuable Player said he expected to undergo an MRI
Taiwanese FORTUNES: Wu Fang-hsien and Hsieh Su-wei both advanced to the last 16 of the women’s doubles, but Ray Ho was ousted in the men’s doubles Carlos Alcaraz yesterday stepped up his quest to win a maiden Australian Open as he overwhelmed showman Corentin Moutet to reach the last 16, while Taiwan’s Wu Fang-hsien and Hsieh Su-wei both advanced to the last 16 of the women’s doubles. Three-time finalist Daniil Medvedev battled through on day six at a warm and sunny Melbourne Park, as did Coco Gauff. Top seed Alcaraz was never in danger against French 32nd seed Moutet, easing through 6-2, 6-4, 6-1 at Rod Laver Arena in 2 hours, 5 minutes. It was the Spaniard’s 100th Grand Slam match and he boasts a remarkable 87-13 win-loss record,
LICENSE TO THRILL: Fans of Learner Tien, the youngest man to reach the quarter-finals in 11 years, wore ‘L Plates,’ signs for learning drivers, in support of the 20-year-old Taiwan’s Wu Fang-hsien and Japanese partner Eri Hozumi yesterday dominated eighth seeds Ellen Perez of Australia and the Netherlands’ Demi Schuurs to advance to the Australian Open quarter-finals, the furthest the Taiwanese has made it since her first appearance in Melbourne in 2020. Wu and Hozumi overpowered world No. 21 Perez and world No. 20 Schuurs 6-2, 6-2 in 1 hour, 11 minutes at 1573 Arena in much cooled temperatures since Saturday’s blazing 40°C disrupted play. World No. 34 Wu has now made it further in the Australian Open since she was knocked out in the third round in 2024. The Taiwanese-Japanese duo
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