Former World Boxing Organization minimumweight champion Ryuya Yamanaka of Shinsei Boxing Gym, who had to hang up his gloves in July 2018 due to subdural hematoma, returned to the ring with a fifth-round technical knockout over Daisuke Sudo of Misako Boxing Gym on March 6 in Kobe, western Japan.

The end of the scheduled six-round light flyweight bout at the Kobe City Chuo Gymnasium came 1 minute and 52 seconds into the round when the 26-year-old Yamanaka severely staggered Sudo with a barrage of left-right combinations to the head and body, which prompted Sudo’s chief second to throw in the towel. Yamanaka decked Sudo, 27, in the first round with a straight right to the head for a mandatory eight count.

It was Yamanaka’s first victory since losing to Vic Saludar of the Philippines in his second defense of the WBO minimumweight title in July 2018, He captured the title in August 2017 and successfully defended it once in March 2018.

After his loss to Saludar, Yamanaka was found to be suffering from subdural hematoma, which forced him to retire from boxing in accordance with the then rules of Japan Boxing Commission.

But since JBC changed its rule last December, and Yamanaka was able to fight again since he cleared the magnetic resonance image and the relevant tests vis-à-vis intracranial hematoma.

After the fight, Yamanaka said, ‘’I am determined to outgrow my former self although I realized it is difficult to show everything I have practiced during training. I will aim at winning the world title at light flyweight. I hope I can show myself more evolved in the future.’’

With the victory, Yamanaka improved his record to 17 wins, including six KOs, against three losses. For his part, Sudo fell to a 7-9-3 win-loss-draw tally.