Japanese champ Uchiyama beats Perez to retain WBA belt

Unbeaten champion Takashi Uchiyama of Japan fended off a challenge from Israel Perez of Argentina Wednesday to defend his World Boxing Association super featherweight title for the ninth time.
The veteran Japanese, 35, remained in control throughout the bout, sending a barrage of body punches towards his challenger, also 35, who kept his guards high.
In the eighth and ninth rounds, Uchiyama showed off furious charges, putting Perez into a corner.
Perez was not able to return to the fight in the tenth round, awarding a technical knockout to the charismatic champion.
The headline bout was a part of the WBA tripleheader at Ota Ward Gymnasium in Tokyo that also saw Ryoichi Taguchi of Japan rise to become the new light flyweight champion with a unanimous decision, dethroning Alberto Rossel of Peru.
Taguchi, making his first attempt at the world title, sent Rossel to the floor twice with a sizzling left body punch.
"It is truly incredible. I don't have words to describe how I feel," he told local media.
In the super flyweight category, Kohei Kono of Japan retained his belt by drawing with Norberto Jimenez of Dominican Republic.
"With my first defence of the title, I can continue boxing. I am so glad," Kono told Japanese media.
In a western metropolis of Osaka, Katsunari Takayama of Japan beat compatriot Go Odaira with a seventh-round technical knockout to claim the minimumweight belts for both the International Boxing Federation and the World Boxing Organization at the Bodymaker Colosseum.
Also in Osaka, Cuban fighter Guillermo Rigondeaux retained his WBA-WBO super bantamweight belts with an 11th round technical knockout against Hisashi Amagasa of Japan, who was making his first attempt at the world title.
Source: AFP