WBC bantamweight champion Shinsuke Yamanaka fell short of posting another KO win in a world title bout, but managed to retain his belt for the seventh consecutive time by defeating Thailand's Suriyan Sor Rungvisai in an unanimous decision (114-110, 116-108, 115-109) at Yoyogi National Gymnasium Annex on Wednesday night.
Yamanaka struggled early against the bullish Suriyan, who kept coming forward against the Japanese southpaw, but found a way to inflict damage on him in the second half of the contest.
Yamanaka knocked down Suriyan three times, once each in the seventh, eighth and ninth rounds. But Suriyan, a former WBC flyweight title contender, refused to stay on the canvas.