Japanese heavyweight champion Mitsuro Brandon Tajima of KWORLD3 Boxing Gym, unleashing a barrage of left and right combinations in the closing moment of the fight, stopped Aekkaphob Auraiwan of Thailand in the eighth and the final round in a nontitle bout in connection with ‘’3150FIGHT SURVIVAL Vol.8’’ in Okayama on Sept. 3.

  The technical knockout of the scheduled eight-rounder at Convex Okayama in the western Japanese prefecture came 2 minutes and 59 seconds into the round when the 28-year-old Tajima severely staggered his opponent with a left hook to the head after a strong right hook near the ropes, which prompted the referee to call off the fight immediately.

  Up until the stoppage, both fighters fought almost evenly as the 30-year-old Aekkaphob took Tajima’s punches without much ado and retaliated with left jabs and overhand rights.

  After the fight, Tajima said, ‘’Though I thought I would settle for a decision, I was able to come out strong thanks to my past experience.’’ Tajima, whose next fight will be on Oct. 7, extended his unbeaten streak to nine wins, seven by KO. For his part, Aekkaphob fell to a 5-3 win-loss record with five KOs.

  The fight was held as the chief supporting card for the eight-round featherweight nontitle bout between former Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation super bantamweight champion Shingo Wake of Flare Yamagami Boxing Gym and the World Boxing Organization’s 13^th-ranked world super bantamweight Jose Velasquez of Chile, in which the 36-year-old Wake won a close but unanimous decision.

  With the win, Wake improved his record to 30 wins, including 21 KOs, against eight losses and two draws, while the 34-year-old Velasquez fell to a 32-9-3 win-loss-draw tally with 22 KOs.