Hard-hitting southpaw Suzumi Takayama of Watanabe Boxing Gym, unleashing strong rights, stopped top-ranked Akio Furutani of Muto Boxing Gym to retain his Japanese super flyweight title on Apr. 25 in Tokyo.

  The technical knockout of the scheduled 10-rounder at Korakuen Hall came 1 minute and 31 seconds when the undefeated Takayama dropped Furutani with a right hook to the head for the second knockdown of the round, which prompted the referee to call off the fight without bothering to count.

  The 27-year-old Takayama scored the first knockdown of the round with a straight left to the body followed by a right hook to the head.

  It was Takayama’s second defense of the title he won by stopping Ryusei Kawaura of Misako Boxing Gym for the vacant title last June.

  While the 26-year-old Furutani got off to a good start by landing straight rights to the head and left hooks to the body, Takayama rebounded strongly in the second round as he pressed forward with straight lefts and kept his momentum going in the following round.

  With the victory, Takayama extended his unbeaten streak to eight, seven by KO, since turning pro in 2019. Furutani fell to an 11-7 win-loss tally with four KOs.

  In one of the supporting cards of the event, former amateur star Taiga Imanaga of Ohashi Boxing Gym, ranked sixth in the Japanese lightweight division, stopped China’s Ma Qiang 2 minutes and 35 seconds into the first round of a scheduled eight-rounder in the Asian lightweight tournament.

With the win, Imanaga, 24, extend his unbeaten streak to five, including four KOs, after making a professional debut in June 2022. The 27-year-old Ma impaired to a 6-4-2 win-loss-draw record with four KOs.