Champion Riku Kunimoto of Muto Boxing Gym pounded out a close but unanimous decision over top-ranked Nath Nwachukwu of Marvelous Boxing gym to retain his Japanese middleweight title on Dec. 18 in Osaka.

It was the 25-year-old Kunimoto’s first successful defense of the title he won by decisioning Mikio Sakai of Kadoebi Boxing Gym for the vacant title on Apr. 17 this year.

While there were no knockdowns during the 10-round fight at the city’s Sumiyoshi Ward Center, Kunimoto landed more effective punches especially during the latter half of the fight, which resulted in him winning by a majority of 2 to 4 points. Though Nwachukwu pressed forward, he failed to land decisive blows.

After the fight, Kunimoto said, ‘’I want to win by knockout in my next fight (probably next spring).’’
With the victory, Kunimoto improved his record to seven wins, including two KOs, against a loss. For his part, the 25-year-old Nwachukwu, whose father is a Nigerian, sagged to a 7-4-2 win-loss-draw tally with three KOs.