Top-ranked Fumiya Fuse of Watanabe Boxing Gym stopped second-ranked Taichi Sugimoto of Katsuki Boxing Gym in the fifth round to capture the vacant Japanese bantamweight title on Apr. 2 in Tokyo.

  The technical knockout of the scheduled 10-rounder at Korakuen Hall came 1 minute and 38 seconds into the round when the left-handed Fuse scored two knockdowns in the round, once with a left hook then with a straight left to the head. The referee stepped in to call of the fight without bothering to count. Fuse severely staggered Sugimoto immediately before the end of the fourth round with a counter left to the head.

  The title was left vacant by Seiya Tsutsumi of Kadoebi Boxing Gym earlier this year.

  With the win, 25-year-old Fuse improved his record to 14 wins, including three KOs, against three losses. For his part, Sugimoto, also 25, sagged to a 10-2-3 win-loss-draw tally with one KO.