TOKYO, Japan — Shinsuke Yamanaka notched the four successful defense of his WBC bantamweight title with another display of crushing power in knocking out Jose Nieves at the 2:40 mark of round one.
Through the first two minutes, Nieves sought to stay off the ropes and keep away from the power of Yamanaka’s southpaw left hand. Yamanaka countered this tactic by cutting off the ring and forcing Nieves to move to his right. This provided the opening for the bout-ending straight left, the only flush power shot Yamanaka landed.
Yamanaka improves to 19-0 (14 KOs) while Nieves falls to 22-3-3 (11 KOs).
With two of the champions in Anselmo Moreno (WBA) and Tomoki Kameda (WBO) getting big wins in the last two weeks, the only question now is what unification fight happens first. Based on location, Yamanaka-Kameda is likely the one.
Beats, Boxing and Mayhem 