By Anson Wainwright

Shinsuke Yamanaka successfully retained his WBC bantamweight title on Wednesday, outpointing Suriyan Sor Rungvisai by winning a unanimous decision with scores of 114-110, 116-108, 115-109.

The Thai challenger, who previously held the WBC 115-pound title in 2011-12, started well but was dropped three times en route to losing a spirited decision.

 

Suriyan's promoter, Thainchai Pisitwuttinan, was proud of his fighter's effort.

 

"We think that Yamanaka is a great champion with an incredible left hand," commented Thainchai Pisitwuttinan. "Suriyan had executed the team's plan extremely well, and that is why he was leading in the early rounds.

 

"Unfortunately, he got caught with Yamanaka's left in round seven, which was the game changer. Despite the knockdowns, Suriyan fought very well, clearly hurting Yamanaka on many occasions, especially in round 12 when Yamanaka's mouthpiece was hit out of his mouth."

 

Pisitwuttan of Nakornloung Promotions, believes his fighter will learn from the experience and is more than capable of making another title run.

 

"We are also very proud of Suriyan," he said. "Especially for his unbeatable heart that he had shown [on Wednesday] night. Suriyan is only 25 years old, so he will come back even stronger. We think it was a great and entertaining fight that we have delivered to the boxing fans."

 

Questions and/or comments can be sent to Anson at elraincoat@live.co.uk and you can follow him at www.twitter.com/AnsonWainwright .