WBO super flyweight champion Kazuto Ioka retained his title for the second time in an absolute war with compatriot Kosei Tanaka in Japan.
The pair traded leather as Ioka proved to have too much in his locker for Tanaka, a three-weight world champion in just twelve fights.
Moving up that four weight class was the final straw for Tanaka, so it seems.
Tanaka had been down twice, once in the fifth and then again in the sixth round. Ioka then ended things in the eighth.
Bidding to become the fastest man to win championships in four different divisions, Tanaka must now regroup. He still has plenty of time to defeat the record held by Oscar De La Hoya, though.
Heading into the contest, Tanaka was a slight favorite, but Ioka was more seasoned at 115 pounds – and it showed.
Ironically, Ioka had already achieved what Tanaka was aiming for after 25 fights and can potentially look towards heading up one more weight soon.
On the bill at the Ota-City General Gymnasium in Tokyo, bantamweight Yuki Kobayashi suffered defeat to former world champion Daigo Higa.
Taking the World Boxing Organization Asia Pacific title, Higa forced Kobayashi out of the fight in five.
At super flyweight, Yuki Nakajima and Toma Kondo fought out an eight-round majority draw.
In the same division, Ryohei Arakawa beat Wolf Nakano on points over six rounds.
Down at flyweight, Kei Fujita scored the second win of his career by halting Yoshiki Horimoto in four rounds.
Finally, featherweight Takumi Tosaka lost out in a debut bow against Yoshiaki Sakamoto.
World Boxing News has had over one billion views since its inception in 2010. Follow us on Facebook @officialworldboxingnews and Twitter @worldboxingnews.
