The World Boxing Association’s 13th-ranked super bantamweight Subaru Murata of Teiken Boxing Gym returned to the ring on March 2 as he knocked out the undefeated Philippine super bantamweight champion Alex Santisima in the seventh round in an eight-round nontitle fight at Tokyo’s Korakuen Hall.

The left-handed Murata, who had to cancel his planned eight-round fight with Carlo Demecillo of the Philippines last December due to his left-hand injury during practice, exchanged fierce blows with Santisima at close quarters from the fourth round and dropped him for the count in the seventh stanza with a devastating left hook to the body.

Murata, 27, a former All-Japan amateur bantamweight champion, now has a record of six straight wins, all by knockout, after turning pro in June 2021. The 23-year-old Santisima fell to an 8-1 win-loss tally with two KOs.