Japanese boxer wins WBA super featherweight title

Japan`s Takashi Uchiyama retained the World Boxing Association super featherweight title beating Costa Rica`s Bryan "Tiquito" Vasquez.

Tokyo: Japan`s Takashi Uchiyama retained the World Boxing Association (WBA) super featherweight title beating Costa Rica`s Bryan "Tiquito" Vasquez.

During Monday`s bout, Uchiyama was in control as he deflected the nervous jabs of Vasquez, who was visibly running out of steam as the fight progressed. In the eighth round, Uchiyama delivered a heavy blow to Vasquez`s face and then followed up with a series of punches that forced the referee to suspend the fight and declare a technical knockout (TKO) by the Japanese featherweight. Vasquez`s defeat dashed any hopes Costa Rican boxing had of winning a world title before the close of 2012, or of winning a men`s world boxing championship for the first time ever. To date, the only Costa Rican ever to win a world boxing crown is Hanna Gabriel, Vasquez`s wife, who currently holds the World Boxing Organisation (WBO) super welterweight title. IANS