Seigo Yuri Akui made a point to come forward all night and ultimately end one of the sport’s longest current title reigns.

The first-time challenger dethroned unbeaten WBA flyweight titlist Artem Dalakian via twelve-round unanimous decision. Judges Raul Caiz (116-112), Luis Pabon (117-111) and Jeremy Hayes (119-109) all scored wide in favor of Akui to crown a new titlist Tuesday at EDION Arena in Osaka, Japan.

The seventh title defense for Dalakian came at a pace befitting the majority of his spread-out reign, though it ultimately cost him this time around,

The Armenian flyweight—based out of Kiev, Ukraine—fought at a distance with his hands low and forced the first-Akui to follow him around the ring. Akui—who entered his first major title fight—took advantage of those moments and came forward in his best attempt to impress the three neutral judges.

Dalakian’s stick and move approach wasn’t always effective. Akui began to find a home for his right hand which landed cleanly—even if only one at a time—in the middle rounds. Dalakian quickly adjusted and landed chopping left hooks as he set traps along the ropes.

Akui jumped out to a strong start and let his right hand fly in round eight. Dalakian clinched whenever Akui gained any momentum and reestablished his desired distance.

The defending titlist used constant lateral movement to frustrate Akui, though the regional favorite cut off the ring and was able to corner Dalakian late in the round, where he landed a clean left hook.

Dalakian ultimately paid the price by allowing Akui to dictate the pace in the final three rounds. Akui followed the fleet-footed Dalakian around the ring and gave the impression that he controlled the action. Dalakian rocked Akui with a stiff jab in round ten, which briefly rocked the 28-year-old Okayama native.

It was the last notable moment for Dalakian, who was outworked in the championship rounds. Akui applied heavy pressure in his best effort to close the show. It proved to be the difference on two of the three cards though he had the fight won in a runaway on one scorecard by that point.

Akui advanced to 19-2-1 (11KOs) with the major upset win, which marked his first career fight scheduled for more than ten rounds.

Dalakian suffered his first career defeat as he fell to 22-1 (15KOs). The bitter outcome ended a WBA flyweight reign that extended back to his February 2018 points win over former two-division titlist Brian Viloria. Inactivity slowed his run to just seven fights over six years, with the Covid pandemic and the ongoing Russo-Ukraine war impacting his ability to get to the ring.

This particular fight was due to take place in November. The card as a whole was canceled when WBA bantamweight titlist Takuma Inoue suffered an injury and was forced to postpone his defense versus former 115-pound titleholder Jerwin Ancajas, which will now take place in February.  

Dalakian-Akui was the first of two major title fights as part of a four-fight ESPN+ stream. Headlining the show, two-time and reigning junior flyweight king Kenshiro Teraji (22-1, 14KOs) defends his lineal and unified WBC/WBA championship versus WBA mandatory challenger and former interim titlist Carlos Canizales (26-1-1, 19KOs).

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. X (formerly Twitter): @JakeNDaBox