Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation super bantamweight champion Yoshiki Takei of Ohashi Boxing Gym, landing a sizzle left hook to the body, knocked out Philippine bantamweight champion Ronnie Baldonado in the third round in a nontitle bout on July 25.

The KO of the scheduled eight-rounder at Tokyo’s Ariake Arena came 1 minute and 8 seconds into the round when the left-handed Takei connected with a left hook to the liver, sending his 27-year-old opponent to the canvas for the count.

It was the 27-year-old Takei’s seventh straight KO since turning a professional boxer in 2021 after a meritorious career as a K-1 kickboxer.

With the loss, Baldonado fell to a 16-5-1 win-loss-draw tally with nine KOs.

The fight was held as one of the undercards of the the World Boxing Council and World Boxing Organization super bantamweight title match between champion Stephen Fulton of the United States and Takei’s stablemate and top-ranked challenger Naoya ‘’the Monster’’ Inoue.