Hard-hitting Ryota Yamauchi of Kaboebi Boxing Gym, unleashing his vaunted left hooks throughout the fight, stopped fifth-ranked challenger Yuta Nakayama of Ichiriki Boxing Gym in the seventh round to retain his World Boxing Organization Asia-Pacific flyweight title on June 24 at Tokyo’s Korakuen Hall.
It was the 26-year-old Yamauchi’s first defense of the title he captured in August last year by getting a technical knockout over Satoru Todaka of Leopard Tamakuma Boxing Gym for the vacant crown.

The end of the scheduled 12-rounder came 1 minute and 29 seconds into the seventh stanza when Yamauchi severely staggered the 25-year-old Nakayama with a sizzling left hook to the head, sending his game but one-dimensional challenger to the canvas. The referee quickly stepped in to call off the fight.
Yamauchi, ranked second by the World Boxing Association and seventh by the WBO, put his aggressive challenger on the seat of his trunks with a straight right in the second round for a mandatory eight count.

While Nakayama recovered quickly and exchanged blows with Yamauchi in the fourth round and most part of the fifth round, Yamauchi scored another knockdown immediately before the end of the fifth stanza with a left hook.

The tenacious Nakayama hung tough in the sixth round only to fall victim to Yamauchi’s left hook in the seventh round.

With the victory, Yamauchi, who is also ranked 11th by the International Boxing Federation, improved his record to eight wins, including seventh KOs, against a loss. Nakayama fell to an 8-4-1 win-loss-draw tally with five KOs.