In the 12-round main event of “Lemino BOXING” held at Yokohama BUNTAI on 2 September, top-ranked contender Daiya Kira (Shisei Gym) captured the vacant WBA light-flyweight world championship with a TKO victory over former WBA and WBC champion Carlos Canizares (Venezuela) at 0:38 of the seventh round. With this victory, Kira equalled the domestic record held by former four-division world champion Kosei Tanaka for the quickest world title acquisition in a fighter’s fifth professional contest.
カニサレスを仕留めた吉良 ©Lemino/SECOND CAREER/NAOKI FUKUDA
From the opening bell, Kira dictated the tempo with heavy, rapid left jabs and right straights, utilizing quick, subtle step-backs to make Canizares miss. In the third round, Kira evaded a swinging right hand from Canizares and landed a counter left hook flush to the temple, scoring a knockdown.
As Canizares sought to close the range, Kira restricted his advance by strategically positioning his lead left foot. Frequently circling to his right to break Canizares’s rhythm, Kira frustrated the Venezuelan further by digging sharp body shots into open gaps.
However, entering the fourth round, Kira ceased his lateral movement and step-backs, perhaps to conserve energy, allowing Canizares to press forward with increased aggression. As the fight progressed through the fifth and sixth rounds, exchanges of simultaneous left hooks grew more frequent alongside body shot trades, momentarily swinging the momentum in favor of Canizares’s heavy combinations.
Kira abandoned the stationary approach and returned to his movement in the seventh round. Stepping back to lure the advancing Canizares forward, Kira drew out an attack and unleashed a precise counter left hook in mid-exchange. Thrown with superior compactness, Kira’s shot caught Canizares flush on the chin, sending the former champion flat on his back to the canvas. As the veteran struggled to regain his feet, the referee intervened to halt the contest.
“The belt feels heavy,” remarked the newly crowned champion after his decisive victory. “While I had my eye on the record, my primary focus was winning this fight, so I am thrilled with the result. It was far more physically demanding than it might have looked from the outside, which is why I was determined to finish it in the middle rounds.” Kira concluded his post-fight comments by expressing gratitude to his support network and training environment.
Kira, 23, remains undefeated at 5-0 (4 KOs). Canizares, 33, fell to 28-4-1 (20 KOs).
