Riku Kunimoto of Muto Boxing Gym, unleashing a barrage of left and right combinations, stopped top-ranked Japanese middleweight Eiki Kani of T & T Boxing Sports Gym in the sixth round to retain the Japanese and the World Boxing Organization’s Asia-Pacific middleweight titles on March 31 in Nagoya.
The technical knockout of the scheduled 10-rounder came 1 minute and 53 seconds into the round when the referee called off the fight as Kunimoto severely staggered Kani with combination blows. Kunimoto floored Kani with a one-two straight to the head followed by an overhand right immediately after the start of the round.
It was the 26-year-old Kunimoto’s third successful defense of the Japanese title and his first of the WBO’s Asia-Pacific crown.
With the win, Kunimoto improved his record to 11 wins, including five KOs, against a loss, while the 22-year-old Kani fell to an 8-4-3 win-loss-draw tally with four KOs.
The fight was held as one of the undercards of 3150FIGHT vol.8 at Nagoya Congress Center in central Japan.
