WBA super featherweight champion Jezreel Corrales has arrived back home to Panama, where he was greeted by fans, family and friends.

On New Year's Eve, he proved that his big shocker earlier this year was no fluke when he picked up a twelve round split decision victory over Takashi Uchiyama at Tokyo’s Ota City General Gymnasium. The scores were 117-110, 115-112, 113-114.

Uchiyama (24-2-1) knocked Corrales down late in the fifth round though it didn’t seem to do a lot of damage to the champion. But overall, “Knockout Dynamite” had a hard time landing blows against the athletic, unorthodox fighter Corrales (21-1-0).

“I was able to win because of all the training I did,” Corrales said through an interpreter. “I wasn’t sure I’d definitely win before the judgment paper was read. But I felt I did enough to win. Uchiyama practiced well, but I think I practiced even more than he did.”

Uchiyama seemed to adjust to the Panamanian’s speed and began landing some punches in the later rounds, but wasn’t able to hit “El Invisible” with critical blows before the bell in the final round.

“I’m disappointed, but Corrales accepted this return match and it’s all on me for coming up short,” said the 37-year-old Uchiyama, who defended his WBA super featherweight title 11 times in a row before a stunning second-round technical knockout loss to Corrales on April 27, which was arguably dubbed “the upset of the year” in the sport, at the same venue.

“He was competitive today. I felt like I had a chance later in the fight. But he used his legs moving around and I couldn’t land my punches. That’s what I have regret (about).”