Ninth-ranked Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation super middleweight Yuki Nonaka of Mitsuki Boxing Gym hammered out a 12-round unanimous decision over seventh-ranked Sam Soliman of Australia to win the vacant title on Apr. 6 in Osaka.

  With the victory, Nonaka, who is 46 years and three months, became the oldest Japanese to win a regional title sanctioned by Japan Boxing Commission, surpassing his previous record of 41 years and two months when he won the OPBF and the World Boxing Organization’s Asia-Pacific middleweight titles in 2019.

Fighting at Sakai City Industrial Promotion Center, the left-handed Nonaka piled up points by landing accurate blows to his 50-year-old opponent, although there were no knockdowns in the fight. The OPBF title had been left vacant for a long time after Soliman’s fellow countryman Jayde Mitchell gave up the title in 2018.

With the victory, Nonaka improved his record to 38 wins, including 11 knockouts, against 12 losses and three draws. For his part, Soliman fell to a 49-19-1 win-loss-draw record with 19 KOs. He has two no decisions.