Japan's Yutaka Niida retained his WBA minimumweight title Saturday, beating Venezuela's Juan Landaeta.
Niida used a barrage of punches late in the bout at Tokyo's Ryogoku Kokugikan and outscored Landaeta on two of three judges' scorecards.
Landaeta, who dominated for much of the 12-round bout, opened a cut above Niida's right eye in the sixth round, but wasn't able to finish him off.
It was Niida's first defense of the title he won in July, when Venezuela's Noel Arambulet was stripped of the title after failing to make weight. Niida improved to 17-1-3 with eight knockouts. Landaeta fell to 20-3-1 with 18 KOs.