TAKENAKA KOS ARAYA TO KEEP OPBF FEATHERWEIGHT TITLE

KNOCKOUT artist Ryo Takenaka knocked out his fellow Japanese Ryu Araya in the 4^th round to retain his Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation (OPBF) featherweight title last February 9 at the Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan.

The 31-year old Takenaka improved his record to 16 wins with 9 knockouts against 3 losses and 1 draw while the 29-year old Araya dropped to 11W-5L-1D-3 KOs.

It was Takenaka’s third title defence of the crown he took away from Filipino Vinvin Rufino via a 5^th round TKO last Aug. 10, 2015 also at Korakuen Hall.

He first successfully defended it against Akira Shono by a 6^th round TKO on April 14, 2016 and previously against another Filipino Randy Braga by a unanimous decision.

Meanwhile, Koichi Aso stopped Kazuki Matsuyama by an 8^th round technical knockout to capture the vacant Japanese super lightweight title in the main supporting bout. It was promoted by Takashi Misako.

The other results:

Bantamweight Yusuke Suzuki def. Ken Kodama by 2^nd round KO

Minimumweight Norihito Tanaka def. Yuto Takahashi by 3^rd round KO

Flyweight Yuma Kudo def. Daisuke Yamada by 5^th round TKO

Super Featherweight Izuki Tomioka def. Joon Woo Park by Unanimous decision

Light Flyweight Tsuyoshi Sato def. Daiki Kameyama by split decision