Hiroto Kyoguchi's WBA light flyweight title reign continues after a spirited effort from Tetsuya Hisada in Osaka, Japan.
In the main event of a Harada Promotions card from the EDION Arena in Osaka, Kyoguchi survived an early onslaught of uppercuts from Hisada to win a 12-round decision and retain his WBA title. Kyoguchi won the bout with scores of 115-112, 116-111 and 117-110.
The two fighters started the fight with a furious exchange of body shots that would create the pace that they would fight for the remainder of the bout. Hisada then managed to surprise Kyoguchi with a counter-right jab in the second round that hurt the champion. For the next few rounds, Hisada kept up with Kyoguchi's workrate and land several uppercuts that would stagger Kyoguchi, but not as much as in the second round.
Kyoguchi got even with Hisada in the sixth round with a combination, stunning his brave challenger and turning the tides of the fight in his favor. Hisada would not have as much success landing clean punches from that point onward, but continued to throw numerous combinations at the champion, including one that ended with an uppercut at the end of the seventh round. As the fight reached the championship rounds, both Kyoguchi and Hisada stayed in the center of the ring and traded more body shots.
This was Kyoguchi's second WBA light flyweight title defense after defeating Hekkie Budler on December 31, 2018 to win a world title in a second weight class. The 25-year-old Kyoguchi's record improved to 14-0 while Hisada suffered his 10th pro loss, dropping his record to 34-10-2.
