Veteran Koichi Aso of Misako Boxing Gym battered Rikki Naito of E&J Cassius Boxing Gym into submission in the ninth round to capture the Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation super lightweight title on Dec. 14 in Tokyo.

The technical knockout of the scheduled 12-rounder at Korakuen Hall came 2 minutes and 50 seconds into the round when the referee stopped the fight to save exclusively defense-oriented Naito from Aso’s barrage of left and right combinations.

After both fought almost evenly in the first four rounds, the left-handed Naito began to fight with his back against the ropes and suffered a standing eight count in the seventh round as he was excessively defensive.

Naito was again forced to reel back to the ropes in the ninth round before Aso’s attacks, and the referee saw enough and called off the fight.

With the victory, 35-year-old Aso, the OPBF’s 14th-ranked contender, improved his record to 25 wins, including 16 KOs, against nine losses and a draw. For his part, the 30-year-old Naito impaired to a 23-3 win-loss record with eight KOs.

While the fight was initially scheduled for Sept. 18, it was postponed as Naito tested positive for COVID-19.