Challenger Ryota Toyoshima of Teiken Boxing Gym scored a knockdown in the seventh round, went onto beat Riku Nagahama of Kadoebi Boxing Gym and captured the Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation welterweight title in a 12-round unanimous decision on Jan. 16 in Tokyo.

It was the 25-year-old Toyoshima’s first title while the 29-year-old Nagahama failed to retain the title he captured by decisioning Afghanistan’s Kudura Kaneko of Honda Boxing Gym for the vacant crown in February last year.

Fighting at the Korakuen Hall, Toyoshima, ranked 12th in the division, got off to a good start by landing his favorite left hooks to the head.

In the seventh stanza, Toyoshima unleashed a barrage of left and right combinations by pitting Nagahama against the ropes and landed a beautiful straight right to the head around two minutes into the round, sending the champion tottering down to the canvas for a mandatory eight count.

Nagahama’s best moment came late in the ninth round when he landed a strong right to the head at close range but failed to follow up with his punches. While both fought at close range fiercely in the remaining three rounds, Toyoshima got the better of it.

With the victory, Toyoshima improved his record to 13 wins, including eight knockouts, against two losses and a draw, while Nagahama fell to a 12-3-1 win-loss-draw record with four KOs.

After the fight, Toyoshima, who was fighting for the first time in a year and four months, said, ‘’I was able to show what I practiced during my long layoff due to my right fist injury. True, I still have lots of things to improve. But I am determined to correct them so that I can move onto the next stage.’’