World Boxing Organization’s top-ranked light flyweight Riku Kano stopped Sanchai Yotboon of Thailand in the second round in his first flyweight bout on Apr. 24 at EDION Arena Osaka’s annex.

The technical knockout of the scheduled eight-rounder came 2 minutes and 42 seconds into the round when southpaw Kano decked the Thai boxer with a straight left. While Sanchai got up to beat the referee’s count, Kano floored him again with a right hook. While Sanchai struggled to his feet, Kano, 24, swarmed all over him with a barrage of right-left combinations, prompting the referee to stop the contest.

Kano relinquished his WBO Asia-Pacific light flyweight title he captured in November 2020 to set the stage for his world title challenge in the flyweight division.

With the victory, Kano improved his record to 19 wins, including 10 KOs, against four losses and a draw. Sanchai, 24, fell to a 7-5 win-loss tally with six KOs.

Earlier, International Boxing Federation’s fifth-ranked super flyweight Sho Ishida stopped Carlo Demecillo of the Philippines in the eighth round of an eight-round bantamweight nontitle fight, thereby making a successful comeback after his close decision loss to former three-time world champion Kosei Tanaka of Soul Box Hatanaka Boxing Gym last December.

The TKO came 1 minute and 20 seconds into the round when Ishida uncorked blows after blows to his tenacious opponent, wherein the referee stepped in to end the fight.

Early in the same round, Ishida dropped Demecillo, ranked 11th in the bantamweight division of the Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation, with left-right combination blows to the body.

The 30-year-old Ishida improved his record to 30 wins, including 16 KOs, against three defeats. For his part, Demecillo, 26, impaired to a 15-6-1 win-loss-draw tally with eight KOs.