Kosei Tanaka rebounded from the first loss of his career to defeat Sho Ishida by split-decision Saturday night at the International Conference Hall in his hometown of Nagoya, Japan.

One judge scored the bout 96-94 for Ishida while the other two judges scored the bout 96-94 and 96-95 for Tanaka, who improves to 16-1, 9 knockouts.

Tanaka, who had won world title belts at 105, 108, and 112 pounds, challenged WBO junior bantamweight titleholder Kazuto Ioka on December 31 of last year in an attempt to win a world title in a fourth weight class. He was stopped by Ioka in round 8.

Ishida has fought between 115 and 118 pounds throughout much of his career. In his eighth pro fight, he challenged then-WBA junior bantamweight titleholder Khalid Yafai, losing by unanimous decision.

Utilizing a four-inch height advantage, along with a long reach, Ishida won the first two rounds, connecting repeatedly with jabs to the face of Tanaka. By the middle rounds, Tanaka began to swing momentum his way by getting on the inside of Ishida’s guard and connecting vicious punches to the body. 

As the fight progressed into the later rounds, Tanaka’s punch output increased. He was able to utilize good head movement and was effective by countering Ishida’s offense. 

Ishida was game, but his punch output dropped over the last three rounds. Even though he was successful early on, Tanaka did well in the pocket, varying his offense and never allowing Ishida to land more than a steady stream of jabs to the face.

The win by Tanaka puts him back in world title contention. It would be interesting to see if he needs another fight similar to the Ishida one or would be willing to fight in a world title elimination bout.

Ishida, who resides in Osaka, Japan, drops to 29-3, 15 KOs. He has lost two of his last three bouts.

Francisco A. Salazar has written for BoxingScene since September 2012 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. He can be reached by email at santio89@yahoo.com or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing