Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation bantamweight female champion Makoto Kikuchi of Ishikawa Boxing Gym Tachikawa pounded out an eight-round split decision over top-ranked Japanese featherweight Akane Fujiwara of Watanabe Boxing Gym and captured the vacant OPBF super bantamweight female title on June 4 in Tokyo.

  With the victory, the 36-year-old Kikuchi now possesses the two OPBF titles at the same time.

  While both fought almost evenly in the first four rounds at Arena Tchikawa Tachihi, on the outskirts of Tokyo, it was the left-handed Kikuchi who landed more effective blows at close range from the fifth round.

  With the victory, her first since moving from Yamaki Boxing Gym last January, Kikuchi said, ‘’I want to take a crack at a world title overseas.’’ She has a record of three wins, including a knockout, against a loss.

  For her part, the 35-year-old Fujiwara fell to a 5-3-1 win-loss-draw tally with two KOs. It was Fujiwara’s third straight unsuccessful challenge to Japanese and regional titles, starting with the Japanese featherweight female title in June last year, which ended in a draw.