Thai boxer Eagle Kyowa retained his WBC minimumweight crown after beating previously undefeated Filipino challenger Rodel Mayol by a unanimous decision on Saturday.
Thai champion Eagle Kyowa is lifed by sumo wrestler Chiyotaikai after defeating challenger Rodel Mayol of the Philippines in a WBC Minimum weight title bout at Tokyo's Korakuen Hall.
In a match between Japan-based boxers, Kyowa struggled to cope with Mayol's hard lefts early on but gradually found his rhythm and took him down in the final round of the scheduled 12-rounder at Korakuen Hall.
Kyowa, who trailed Mayol by two points after four rounds on all three scorecards, had his right eyes almost shut but fought back to erase the deficit with a series of effective counter punches.
Kyowa applied more pressure as the match wore on and connected with stinging lefts and rights to the challenger's body. He took the final five rounds and a knockdown in the 12th helped him win 115-112, 114-113, 117-110 on the judges' cards.
"He landed good punches in the second and third rounds, giving me a wake-up call," said Kyowa, who successfully defended his title for the second time and improved to 16-1 with six knockouts.
"I'd like to fight the WBA champion if there is an offer for a unification bout," the 27-year-old added after handing Mayol his first loss in 23 bouts.
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