Former Japanese welterweight champion Ryota Yada stopped lightly regarded Takuya Fujii in the fifth round on Aug. 9 in Osaka Prefecture, the first charged boxing event in western Japan this year due to the wide spread of the novel coronavirus.

Fighting in the day’s main event at the General Sports Center of Hirakata City, Yada decked Fujii in the fourth round and forced him to abandon the scheduled eight-rounder soon into the following round as Fujii sprained his ankle in the knockdown.

With the victory, Yada, 31, improved his record to 20 wins, including17 knockouts, against six losses, while Fujii, 32, fell to a 7-6 win-loss record with three KO.

Although the capacity of the center is 3,500, a total of 850 spectators came to see the day’s event amid circumstances under which boxing gyms in Osaka are being affected by cluster outbreaks.