Top-ranked challenger Kenshiro Teraji of BMB Boxing Gym, unleashing a devastating counter right, knocked out champion Masamichi Yabuki of Midori Boxing Gym in the third round and recaptured the World Boxing Council light flyweight title on March 19 in Kyoto.

The knockout of the scheduled 12-rounder at Kyoto City Gymnasium came 1 minute and 11 seconds into the round when Teraji landed a counter right to the head after dodging Yabuki’s punch, which sent the champion down flat on his back.

While the 29-year-old Yabuki struggled to his feet to try to beat the referee Michiaki Someya’s count, he could not stand up upright, and Someya counted him out. With the loss, Yabuki failed in his first defense of the title he won from Teraji on Sept. 22 last year also at the same gymnasium.

After the fight, Teraji said, ‘’I am extremely happy. That’s my new style as I aimed at decking him in the fight. Thank you very much Mr. Yabuki for having made me stronger. I regained confidence in me in today’s fight. I am thinking about title unification fights with champions of the other sanctioning bodies. Or else, moving up in weight is also in my future plan.’’

In their first fight, the 30-year-old Teraji, popularly known as Kenshiro, suffered a severe cut above his right eyelid due apparently to Yabuki’s head butt in the ninth round. Teraji was stopped in the 10th round and failed in his ninth defense of the title he won in May 2017. The WBC issued an order for their rematch after monitoring the video on their fight.

In their rematch, Teraji got off to an active start, throwing sharp left jabs and straight rights, forcing Yabuki back-pedal frequently, which set the stage for Teraji’s beautiful one-punch KO victory.

With the win, Teraji improved his record to 19 victories, including 11 KOs, against a loss. For his part, Yabuki fell to a 13-4 win-loss tally with 12 KOs.

Yabuki tipped the scales at 48.8 kg (107.6 lbs), while Teraji weighed in at 48.7 kg (107.4 lbs).
The fight was shown via AbemaTV, a Japanese live TV streaming website.