Highly touted super featherweight Masanori Rikiishi of Midori Boxing Gym, unleashing a series of body shots, knocked out Ricardo Nunez of Panama in the third round in a lightweight nontitle fight on June 10 at EDION Arena Osaka’s annex.

The end of the scheduled 10-rounder at the catchweight of 60.78 kg (134 lbs.) as the main event of the ‘’3150FIGHT SURVIVAL vol.6’’ came 2 minutes and 16 seconds in the round when the left-handed Rikiishi sent his 29-year-old opponent to the canvas for the count when he connected with sizzling body shots.

Rikiishi, ranked eighth by the World Boxing Council and ninth by the World Boxing Organization, said after the fight, ‘’Though I could not fight my fight earlier in the bout, I aimed at his body at the advice of my cornerman, and it worked out perfectly. If I can take a crack at a world title, I will do my best. If possible, I want to challenge WBO super featherweight champion Emanuel Navarrete (of Mexico) around this fall.’’

With the victory, Rikiishi, who turned 29 on June 10, improved his record to 14 wins, including nine KOs, against a loss. For his part, Nunez, impaired to a 23-6 win-loss tally with 21 KOs.