Champion Hinata Maruta of Morioka Boxing Gym dropped the seventh-ranked challenger Ryo Hino of Kawasaki Nitta Boxing Gym twice and managed to retain his Japanese featherweight title with a hard-fought 10-round unanimous decision on Nov. 27 at Tokyo’s Korakuen Hall.

It was the 24-year-old Maruta’s first successful defense of the title he captured from Ryo Sagawa of Misako Boxing Gym in February this year with a seventh-round technical knockout.

Maruta is expected to face the second-ranked featherweight Reiya Abe of KG Yamato Boxing Gym in his next title defense since Abe stopped the top-ranked Daisuke Watanabe of Watanabe Boxing Gym in the third round in the day’s chief supporting card.

While the 31-year-old Hino got off to a good start by throwing wild punches at close quarters, the left-handed Hino was dropped in the third round with Maruta’s combination blows.

Atypical Hino hung tough and rallied with right-left hooks. But he hit the canvas again in the fifth round due to Maruta’s well-timed right hook.

While both fighters exchanged fierce blows from the eighth-round, they managed to go the distance.
With the victory, Maruta improved his record to 12 wins, including nine knockouts, against a loss and a draw. For his part, Hino fell to a 14-3-2 win-loss-draw tally with nine KOs.