Second-ranked Shokichi Iwata of Teiken Boxing Gym stopped top-ranked Rikito Shiba of Shinsei Boxing Gym in the ninth round to win the vacant Japanese light flyweight title on Nov. 6 at Tokyo’s Korakuen Hall.

The technical knockout came 37 seconds into the round of the scheduled 10-rounder when the 25-year-old Iwata unleashed a barrage of left-right combinations by putting defenseless Shiba against the ropes, prompting the referee to step in to call off the fight.

The title had been left vacant by Masamichi Yabuki of Midori Boxing Gym, current World Boxing Council light flyweight champion.

While the left-handed Shiba got off to a good start with right jabs and fancy footwork, Iwata rallied from around the fourth round as he landed right hooks by keeping his guard tight. Iwata increased his attack and sent Shiba to the canvas in the sixth round with a right hook for a mandatory eight count.

Encouraged by this knockdown, Iwata pressed further by landing right hooks to the head and body. Though the 26-year-old Shiba went down in the eighth stanza at close quarters due apparently to the accumulated damage, the referee called it a slip. But when Iwata swarmed all over Shiba soon into the ninth round, the referee stopped the fight immediately.

While the fight was originally scheduled to be held on Sept. 11, it was postponed due to Iwata testing positive in customary PCR tests for COVID-19 after the weigh-in the previous day.

With the victory, the undefeated Iwata, a graduate of Waseda University, improved his record to seven wins, including five KOs. As for Shiba, who graduated from Kindai University, dropped to a 5-2 win-loss record with three KOs. Iwata beat former world champions Kosei Tanaka of Hatanaka Boxing Gym and Takuma Inoue of Ohashi Boxing Gym during his high-school days.