Japan's Ioka defends WBA crown

TOKYO: Japan's Kazuto Ioka beat Thai challenger Noknoi Sitthiprasert on Sunday, defending his World Boxing Association flyweight title for the fifth time.
The 28-year-old champion did not suffer a single major facial mark in the match against Sitthiprasert, 30, a veteran fighter making his world debut.
In the bout at Osaka's Edion Arena, Ioka was given a one-point penalty for a low blow in the third round.
But judges gave him the victory, 117-110, 116-111, and 117-110.
Ioka's record is now 22 wins, 13 of them by knockout, against one loss. It was the fifth defeat for Sitthiprasert who has 62 wins, 38 of them knockouts.
"I wanted to have my fourth straight knockout in this match but my rival was really resilient," Ioka said.
In another match on Sunday Filipino Marlon Tapales defeated Japan's Shohei Omori.
The fight had been billed as a defence by Tapales of his World Boxing Organisation bantamweight title. But the 25-year-old did not manage to make the weight and the crown fell vacant when Omori failed to win it.
A left uppercut followed by a right hook from Tapales dropped Omori, 24, to the canvas in the 10th round. The referee stopped the challenger at 00:16 into the 11th.
Tapales improved to 30 wins, 13 of them by knockout, against two losses. It was Omori's second loss against 18 wins, 13 of them by knockout. — AFP