Undefeated super lightweight Andy Hiraoka of Ohashi Boxing Gym, fighting for the first time in about a year, stopped Sebastian Diaz of Mexico in the fifth round of a scheduled eight-round welterweight nontitle bout on Dec. 26 as one of the undercards of the world super bantamweight title unification fight in Tokyo.

  Fighting at Ariake Arena, the left-handed Hiraoka scored a knockdown in the opening round by landing a right hook to his southpaw opponent for a mandatory eight count.

  While the 30-year-old Diaz moved forward from the second round, Hiraoka, ranked 10^th in the International Boxing Federation’s super lightweight division, fended off his offense without much ado and landed a barrage of unanswered blows in the fifth round by putting Diaz against the ropes, which prompted the referee to call of the fight 1 minute and 7 seconds into the round.

  With the victory, Hiraoka improved his record to 23 wins, 18 by KO. For his part, Diaz sagged to a 18-7-1 win-loss-draw tally with 13 KOs.

  Meanwhile, Hiraoka’s stablemate and former Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation super bantamweight champion Yoshiki Takei knocked out Mario Diaz of Mexico in the second in another undercard.

  The end of the scheduled super bantamweight eight-rounder came 2 minutes and 23 seconds into the round when the 27-year-old Takei landed a tremendous counter left to the liver, sending his 28-year-old opponent down for the count.

  With the victory, the undefeated former K-1 fighter extended his unbeaten streak to eight, all by KO, while Diaz fell to a 21-7 win-loss tally with nine KOs.