The International Boxing Federation’s fifth-ranked bantamweight Ryosuke Nishida of Muto Boxing Gym now has the right to challenge newly crowned IBF champion Emmanuel Rodriguez of Puerto Rico for the latter’s title as Rodriguez won the vacant title by decisioning Melvin Lopez of Nicaragua on Aug. 12 in the United States.

  The 31-year-old Rodriguez floored the 25-year-old Nicaraguan three times in the 12^th and the final round with a barrage of punches to the head and body in the closing minute of the fight held at the MGM National Harbor on Oxon Hill, Maryland. The IBF does not adopt the three-knockdown rule. All three judges scored the fight 120-105 in favor of Rodriguez.

  Nishida, ranked fifth in the division, pounded out a unanimous decision over sixth-ranked Christian Medina of Mexico in an elimination bout for the then vacant IBF title on Aug. 11 in Osaka.

  With Rodriguez’s victory, the bantamweight champions of all the four major sanctioning bodies have been decided after the then undisputed champion Naoya ‘’the Monster’’ Inoue of Ohashi Boxing Gym relinquished the titles early this year to move up in weight to super bantamweight.

The current champions are as follows: World Boxing Association (Takuma Inoue of Ohashi gym); World Boxing Council (Alexandro Santiago of Mexico); World Boxing Organization (Jason Moloney of Australia); and IBF (Emmanuel Rodriguez of Puerto Rico).