Yuzo Kiyota lost on a unanimous decision to champion Robert Stieglitz in a WBO super middleweight title fight in Germany on Saturday.

The scores were 99-90, 100-89, 99-90 in favor of the German champion.

The 10th-ranked Kiyota, who was taking his first crack at a world title, had a nasty cut opened over his left eye by an accidental head-butt in the eighth round. With Kiyota bleeding badly, the referee called a halt to the bout after 10 rounds.

The 29-year-old Kiyota, who holds a record of 23-4 (21 knockouts) with one draw, was the first Japanese fighter to take a crack at a WBO title since the Japan Boxing Commission joined the WBO in April.

He was the third fighter from his country after Yoshiaki Tajima and Yoshinori Nishizawa to make an attempt at a super middleweight crown from the four major sanctioning bodies in professional boxing.