Jukiya Iimura of Kadoebi Boxing Gym pounded out a lopsided 10-round decision over 12^th-ranked challenger Katsuya Murakami of Nagoya Ohashi Boxing Gym to retain the title on Nov 4 at Tokyo’s Korakuen Hall.

  It was the 25-year-old Iimura’s first successful defense of the title he won from Kosuke Nagata of Kyoei Boxing Gym last July. All the three judges scored with fight 99-91 in favor of Iimura.

  Though there were no knockdowns in the fight, it was Iimura who controlled the fight throughout against Murakami by landing well-timed straight rights and left hooks.

  The 29-year-old Murakami’s best moment came in the closing moment of the ninth round as he unleashed a barrage of combinations. But Iimura returned to normal in the 10^th and final round as he connected with combination blows and ended the fight on top.

  With the win, Iimura, a graduate of Nihon University with more than 80 amateur fights, improved his record to five wins, including one knockout, while Murakami fell to a 14-3-1 win-loss-draw tally with three KOs.