Junto Nakatani rips through Vincent Astrolabio in round one to defend WBC bantamweight world title

Junto Nakatani made a ruthlessly efficient defence of the WBC bantamweight world title on Saturday, stopping challenger Vincent Astrolabio inside the first round.

Japan’s Nakatani lived up to his reputation as one of world boxing’s most fearsome knockout artists at the Kokugikan Arena in Tokyo.

He stepped forward and landed a ferocious cross direct to the body. A shot that was both literally and metaphorically breath-taking as it hit Astrolabio on the belt line but in the target area.

The force of the shot snuffed out Astrolabio’s challenge immediately. It sent him reeling away across the ring, where he collapsed to the canvas.

He could not regroup from that one-punch finish, and declined to continue.

“I thought maybe this was going to be a long fight but luckily I got the punch and I am victorious,” Nakatani said.

He then asked the crowd: “Do you want me to unify the titles? I’m thinking about unifying the titles in the bantamweight division or I’m thinking about going up weight divisions, let’s see.”

The WBA bantamweight titlist, Takuma Inoue, is on his hitlist. “I think loads of people are expecting this fight. I’ll be stronger, I’ll get ready,” he said.

Takuma’s brother, Naoya ‘The Monster’ Inoue, is lurking just one division above Nakatani at super-bantamweight where he is the undisputed world champion.

“I will take one step at a time but I know in one of the weight divisions there’s the ‘Monster’ waiting. So let’s see what happens,” Nakatani said.

On the undercard, Anthony Olascuaga, Nakatani’s gym-mate, upset Riku Kano with a big knockout of his own in the third round to win the WBO flyweight world title.

Olascuaga looked dangerous early on but, just as the contest was beginning to settle down, the American launched himself forward, angling up a left hook as Kano ducked down.

The fierce shot caught Kano cleanly and dropped him heavily to the canvas.

The home fighter could not beat the count and Olascuaga claimed the vacant championship.

Tenshin Nasukawa, a kickboxing superstar in Japan, continued his professional boxing career with a three-round win against Jonathan Rodriguez

He badly stunned Rodriguez with backhand left at the end of the second round and fired in a volley of unanswered punches after that.

Nasukawa continued to land vicious lefts in the third round and blasted Rodriguez off his feet, ending their scheduled 10 rounder in the third.

Making his pro debut, Japanese middleweight Issei Aramoto also won by knockout, eventually hacking down Mongontsooj Nandinerdene with a left hook to the chin in their sixth and final round.