Former Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation middleweight champion Kazuto Takesako of World Sports Boxing Gym stopped third-ranked Woo Hyun Ma of South Korea in the 10^th round to regain the OPBF title on Oct. 7 at Tokyo’s Korakuen Hall.

The technical knockout of the scheduled 12-rounder came 53 seconds into the round when the 32-year-old Takesako connected with a barrage of left-and-right combinations by driving Ma, 27, into the corner, prompting the referee to call off the fight. Takesako floored Ma in the fifth, sixth and eighth rounds.

With the victory, Takesako returned to the ring after being stopped by undefeated champion Meiirim Nursultanov of Kazakhstan last April in the World Boxing Organization’s international middleweight title fight in South Korea.

Takesako improved his record to 16 wins, including 15 KOs, against a loss and a draw. For his part, Ma fell to a 6-2-1 win-loss-draw tally with three KOs.