Champion Ryosuke Nishida of Muto Boxing Gym hammered out a 10-round shutout decision over 14th-ranked challenger Aljum Pelesio of the Philippines to retain his World Boxing Organization’s Asia-Pacific bantamweight title on Oct. 9 in Osaka.

The championship fight was reduced to 10-round match as the Philippine Boxing Commission said Pelesio is not qualified for a 12-round bout, according to boxing officials.

It was the 26-year-old Nishida’s second defense of the title he won from former World Boxing Council flyweight champion Daigo Higa of Shisei Boxing Gym in April last year.
It was Nishida’s first fight in about 10 months ever since his successful defense of the title in December last year with a lopsided 12-round decision over Tetsuro Ohashi of Shinsei Boxing Gym.

‘’I have to apologize to my fans because I failed to deck my opponent. But I promise I will attain a knockout victory in my next fight. Honestly speaking, however, I want to build my career more,’’ Nishida said after the fight.

There were no knockdowns during the 10-round bout at the Sumiyoshi Ward Center. While Nishida landed right jabs and straight lefts throughout the fight, the tenacious Filipino took them well and occasionally rallied with his wild punches until the end of the fight.

With the victory, Nishida is undefeated in his six bouts, with one knockout. For his part, the 24-year-old Pelesio fell to an 11-2 win-loss tally with six KOs.