Second-ranked Tsubasa Narai of RK Kamata Boxing Family Gym, unleashing devastating left hooks, stopped top-ranked Soreike Taichi of KG Yamato Boxing Gym in the first round of the scheduled eight-round elimination bout for the Japanese super featherweight title on Sept. 28 at Tokyo’s Korakuen Hall.

  With the victory, the 23-year-old Narai is entitled to take a crack at the title, currently held by Yuna Hara of Shinsei Boxing Gym though Hara is scheduled to defend the title against Taison Mukaiyama of Happy Box Gym on Dec. 17.

  Narai got off to a good start by landing left hooks and straight rights. While Taichi, 31, exchanged punches, Narai sent his opponent tottering down with a vicious left hook to the head. Though Taichi beat the referee’s count, he was floored again as Narai landed a hard left hook to the head. This time the referee stepped in to stop the fight immediately. The technical knockout came 2 minutes and 26 seconds into the round.

  With the victory, Narai improved his record to 12 wins, including nine KOs, against two losses. For his part, Taichi, whose real name is Taichi Kimura, fell to a 10-6 win-loss tally with six KOs.