Kal Yafai successful in first title defence
Kal Yafai successfully defends his WBA super-flyweight title in Birmingham after a unanimous points decision against Suguru Muranaka.
Yafai’s first defence in his home city of Birmingham went exactly to plan Saturday night (13/05/2017) after the Japanese challenger showed bravery during each of the 12 rounds.
At first, it looked like it the fight would be ending early as Muranaka’s knee hit the canvas in the second, but, following the brutal right from Yafai, he continued.
Yafai continued to hit Muranka with two left hooks in the third which surprisingly did not finish the challenger who did not look affected by the punches.
Muranka continued to absorb Yafai’s power, but, as the fight went on, the resistance from the challenger was dwindling away.
Yafai let loose in the final two rounds and despite there not being a stoppage, the fight fans in Birmingham were happy to see this fight go the distance.
Speaking to Sky Sports after the fight, Yafai could not help but congratulate the resistance from Muranka.
I have a lot to work on, I am still a work in progress. He has one tough head, he took everything I had. My hands are in agony.
The three judges scored the fight in Yafai’s favour with the scorecards reading 118-108 119-107 119-107.
There was also a win for Sam Eggington who beat Ceferino Rodriguez to become European welterweight champion.