WBC bantamweight champion Shinsuke Yamanaka scored a seventh-round knockout against Diego Santillan of Argentina to successfully defend his title for the eighth time in front of his hometown fans on Thursday.
Yamanaka used a right-hand lead effectively throughout the bout, setting his opponent up to easily take a substantial lead after the first four rounds at Bodymaker Colosseum.
Santillan's face was a bloody patchwork by the third round and the Argentine missed wildly while he stumbled to keep his footing.
Yamanaka, 32, dropped Santillan, 27, with about a minute left in the sixth round, setting him up with the right before bursting through his opponent's guard with a powerful left to the head.
It was "God's Left" that brought a sudden end to the bout after just 36 seconds into the seventh. Yamanaka, who opened with a right uppercut, threw his left to send Santillan down for the final count.
"My jab was working from early on. I was patient and thought I could get a knockout sometime in 12 rounds," said Yamanaka, who improved to 23-0-2 (17 KOs). "My left was really effective tonight. I'm mentally prepared for a big fight. I want to be in a match that draws a lot of attention."
Santillan slipped to 23-1 (15 KOs).
Earlier, 18-year-old Juiki Tatsuyoshi, the second-eldest son of former WBC batamweight champion Joichiro Tatsuyoshi, won his boxing pro debut with a second-round stoppage of Tadao Iwao.
"It felt really great to do this in front of so many people watching. I'm just extremely happy about today," the younger Tatsuyoshi said.