Yaegashi beats Sosa to defend WBC flyweight crown

Japan's Akira Yaegashi defended his WBC flyweight title for a second time after beating Mexican challenger Edgar Sosa with a unanimous decision in Tokyo on Friday. Neither fighter managed a knock-down over 12 rounds at sumo mecca Ryogoku Kokugikan, but 30-year-old Yaegashi took the decision 116-112, 117-111, 117-111 to improve his record to 19 wins and three defeats with nine knock-outs. Former Mexico City cab driver Sosa was looking to win his first world title since losing the WBC light flyweight belt he successfully defended 10 times from 2007-09, but instead saw his record fall to 49 wins and eight defeats with 29 knock-outs. "First of all I'm relieved to win," said Yaegashi, who won the title from compatriot Toshiyuki Igarashi in April and successfully defended it against Mexican Oscar Blanquet in August. "I'm sorry for the fans that I couldn't put on a more interesting fight. Looking to the future, I'm going to focus on every fight as it comes." In an earlier bout, London Olympic middleweight gold-medallist Ryota Murata beat American Dave Peterson with a final-round technical knock-out (TKO) in the second fight of his pro career. Murata, who became Japan's first Olympic gold medal-winning boxer in 48 years when he beat Brazil's Esquiva Falcao Florentino on points last summer, launched a flurry of shots to finish off his opponent 1 minute, 20 seconds into the eighth round after dominating the contest throughout. In other fights, hotly tipped 20-year-old Japanese prospect Naoya Inoue lived up to his growing reputation with a fifth-round TKO win over Jerson Mancio of the Philippines to claim the vacant Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation (OPBF) light flyweight title. Ryosuke Iwasa claimed the OPBF bantamweight title from champion Hiroki Shiino with a fifth-round TKO victory, while Inoue's 17-year-old brother Takuma beat Tatsuya Fukuhara with a unanimous decision in his pro debut. Source: AFP