Koki Kameda successfully defended his WBA bantamweight title for a seventh time on Tuesday, winning by unanimous decision against third-ranked challenger John Mark Apolinario of the Philippines.
Kameda won a razor-thin split decision over Panomroonglek Kaiyanghadaogym of Thailand in April, but he put in a much improved performance against Apolinario and twice sent the Filipino to the canvas with a right hook in the 10th round and a stinging left in the 12th at Tokyo Big Sight.
"There were good points and bad points (tonight) but I have I have made steps forward after my last bout," said the 26-year-old Kameda, the eldest of the three Kameda boxing brothers.
"I tried a few different things and even though he (Apolinario) didn't have that many punches, he was difficult to hit. That I was able to put him down twice is a plus."
Kameda improved his record to 31 (17 Kos) against one loss.
On a night of mixed fortunes for Japanese boxing, Etsuko Tada lost 2-1 on a decision to top-ranked Mexican Anabel Ortiz in her 10th defense of the women's WBA minimumweight title.
"I thought I was winning points. There really is no damage," said Tada. "I didn't think I'd lost but results are everything and I won't make excuses."
Ortiz said, "I'm so happy I want to cry. I moved well on the counterattack and overall the match went the way I expected it to. I was really confident I would win."
