Second-ranked Shoki Sakai of Yokohama Hikari Boxing Gym captured the vacant Japanese welterweight title by stopping top-ranked Hironori Shigeta of Watanabe Boxing Gym in the second round on Apr. 26 at Tokyo’s Korakuen Hall.

The technical knockout of the scheduled 10-rounder came 2 minutes into the round when the referee stopped the fight as the 32-year-old Sakai landed a wild but hard right hook to the head followed by rapid left-right punches by putting Shigeta against the ropes.

It was their third encounter with Sakai winning two and a draw. They last fought in October last year in an eight-round fight, which ended in a draw.

While the left-handed Shigeta got off to a good start by landing straight lefts and a left uppercut, Sakai, who fought mostly in Mexico and the United States before returning to Japan a few years ago, rebounded strongly in the second round.

With the win, Sakai improved his record to 27 wins, including 15 KOs, against 13 losses and three draws. For his part, Shigeta impaired to an 8-3-2 win-loss-draw tally with five KOs.

The title was left vacant by Keita Obara of Misako Boxing Gym.
The championship fight was part of Lemino BOXING PHOENIX BATTLE 99