WBA flyweight champion Lorenzo Parra won a 2-0 decision against Japan's Takefumi Sakata in a bloody confrontation and Chris John completed a miserable night for Japan when he won on a unanimous decision over Osamu Sato in the WBA featherweight title bout in a double header at Tokyo's Ariake Colosseum on Friday.
In the evening's first bout, 25-year-old Venezuelan Parra stood toe to toe with Sakata in his first defense of his title, then reaped the heaviest damage against the Japanese challenger with body shots from the fourth round.
Sakata took a beating as he was knocked off-balance with a combination of left hooks and a strong right hands from Parra, who outpointed his opponent 117-111 and 115-113. One judge called the bout a 114-114 draw.
"I wasn't in top form for this fight," Parra said. "It was hard to focus from the middle rounds but I just believed that I would win. Sakata is a good fighter," he said.
Parra improved to 23-0 with 17 knockouts while Sakata dropped to 22-2, including nine KOs and a draw.
Featherweight champion John of Indonesia outscored former WBA super bantamweight champion Sato on all judges cards 117-111, 116-113, 120-109 and denied his opponent the chance to become only the sixth Japanese boxer ever to win world titles in two different weight categories.
John showed superior technique and had Sato on the back foot early on with a series of series of sharp lefts and never really looked in danger of giving up his crown at any point in the bout.
"We showed everyone a really thrilling bout. Today's win wasn't just mine it was a real team effort," John said.