Former amateur star Taiga Imanaga of Ohashi Boxing Gym knocked out Roy Sumugat of the Philippines in the sixth round of a super lightweight nontitle fight on Dec. 26 in Tokyo.
The scheduled eight-rounder at Korakuen Hall came 1 minute and 25 seconds into the round when the 23-year-old Imanaga connected with a counter left to the head from his southpaw stance, sending Sumugat down for the count.
While Imanaga scored a knockdown in the second round near the ropes by landing a right hook to the head for a mandatory eight count, the 30-year-old Sumugat, also southpaw, fended off Imanaga’s onslaught evasively until being decked in the sixth stanza.
With the victory, Imanaga, who captured a total of 10 amateur titles, including a record eight crowns when he was a high-school student, improved his record to three straight KO wins after turning pro in June this year.
For his part, Sumugat fell to a 14-13-1 win-loss-draw tally with seven KOs.
The fight served as the chief supporting card for the day’s Japanese super bantamweight championship bout.
