By Takahiro Onaga

Fans at the Korakuen Hall in Tokyo received an unexpected treat as Japanese Flyweight champion Takuya Kogawa engaged in a 10 round war with Masafumi Otake, claiming a well-earned by surprisingly wide unanimous decision on Friday evening.

On paper the bout was a mismatch, with the final scores suggesting one as well as the bout is looked upon down the road. Kogawa prevailed by tallies of 99-91 and 100-90-twice, but in reality the bout was a special fight - and not just because it was the first main event shown on www.boxingraise.com, the new subscription service from Japanese promoter Dangan.

From the opening round, the 37-year old challenger - overlooked by most experts going in, given his journeyman record - decided to take the fight to Kogawa. He put the champion under intense pressure from the opening round and looked to get in range for his spiteful right hands and looping left hooks.

The pressure from Otake caused Kogawa all sorts of problems, making for what appeared to be a relatively even fight through five rounds.

Sadly the scorecards - which in Japan are public for domestic title fights - were harsh on Otake. Only one judge awarded him a single round, a far cry from the 48-47 card most viewers were expecting by that point.

Otake dialled up the pressure and took the fight to Kogawa in round six, forcing the defending champ to raise his own level of activity. In that vein, the strategy miserably backfired for the challenger, who was hurt badly in the round and spent most of the back half of the bout offering just one punch at a time.

Conversely, the champion found the angles for some eye catching flurries and the space for jaw-rattling uppercuts, most notably in the 10th and final round. As those shots from Kogawa started to land more frequently, Otake was forced to rely on just his toughness. How he survived a torrid round 10 is a genuine mystery with his legs buckling numerous times.

Given the second half of the fight no one would argue with Kogawa winning the contest. The cards were wide but the victory was well earned. As was the round of applause that both men got with the bout likely to be Otake's final bout as a professional, falling to 15-15-3, 7KOs.

Meanwhile, Kogawa rolls to his fifth straight win as his record improves to 27-4 (13KOs). The plan now is to get his hands on the winner of the upcoming WBA World flyweight title fight between Kazuto Ioka and Keyvin Lara, which takes place July 20 in Osaka, Japan.

Takahiro Onaga is a correspondent for BoxingScene.com, as well as the founder and Editor-in-Chief of AsianBoxing.info. Twitter: @AsianBoxing