By Takahiro Onaga

In the last 12 months the Super Bantamweight division has been one of the focal points of Japanese boxing. Over here we have seen three world title bouts, with Shingo Wake fighting Jonathan Guzman, Hozumi Hasegawa fighting Hugo Ruiz and Yukinori Oguni fighting Jonathan Guzman. Those bouts saw Wake show his bravery before losing to Guzman for the vacant IBF title, Hasegawa roll back the clock and beat Ruiz for the WBC title and Oguni shock the boxing world by beating Guzman for the IBF title.

The Super Bantamweight division was the focal point of Japanese boxing again today as fans got their first Japanese title fight of 2017.

The bout was a rematch between Teiken veteran Yasutaka Ishimoto (29-9, 8) and Watanabe gym fighter Yusaku Kuga (14-2-1, 10), with Ishimoto seeking the third defense of the title he won back in December 2015, when he took a majority decision over Kuga.

Although Ishimoto had won their first bout there was little between them, and fans were expecting a very close bout again here. Kuga had other ideas however and immediately looked to impose himself, landing a huge right hand just seconds into the contest.

That right hand shook Ishimoto and opened the door for Kuga to follow up. Kuga continued to take the initiative and dropped Ishimoto a little more than a minute into the bout. The veteran recovered to his feet but never looked comfortable as Kuga continued to land massive right hands through the round.

Ishimoto managed to finish the opening round, and saw some success late in the round, but it wasn't long until Kuga had him hurt in round 2, with the right hands again taking their toll on Ishimoto. With the champion hurt and struggling to survive his corner threw in the towel, catching the referees attention and stopping the bout just as Ishimoto had landed a shot of his own. The timing looked strange with the referee stepping in after a connect from Ishimoto, but the decision from Ishimoto's corner was the right one, with it being clear their man had little chance.

For the 35 year old Ishimoto this was a second stoppage loss, following a 2014 loss to Chris Avalos in Macau, and probably ends his 14 year career. For Kuga however the win is a statement and the performance will help announce him as not only the Japanese champion but also as a genuine contender, and a potential world title bout could well take place later this year for Kuga.