By Jake Donovan
Ryoichi Taguchi celebrated his one-year anniversary as a junior flyweight champ with another title fight victory, forcing Colombia's Luis de la Rosa to retire after nine rounds of action Thursday evening at Ota-City General Gymnasium in Tokyo, Japan.
At 5'6", the question always looms just how long Taguchi can continue to make weight in the 108-pound division. He's yet to struggle at the scales, but was slow out the gate as de la Rosa immediately pressed the action. The defending champ eventually made the necessary adjustments, at which point the fight ceased being competitive.
Taguchi grew increasingly dominant with each passing round, a fact not at all lost on de la Rosa or his corner. The command decision was made after round nine to keep the visiting challenger on his stool.
de la Rosa has now suffered losses in three of his last four starts as he falls to 24-6-1 (14KOs). The 30-year old journeyman has previously fallen short in three interim title challenges, as well as suffering a 10-round decision defeat at the hands of then-unbeaten Zou Shiming in July '14.
The win provides Taguchi with his second successful title defense has he advances to 23-2-1 (10KOs). The 29-year old won the belt in this very venue this time last year, claiming a 12-round decision over Alberto Rossel. The bout marked his third consecutive New Year's Eve ring appearance. All three fights have come in chief support to long-reigning unbeaten super featherweight champ Takashi Uchiyama who appears in the evening's headliner versus Oliver Flores.
In addition to his current title reign, Taguchi also lays claim as the only fighter to go the full distance with the excellent Naoya Inoue, who was 3-0 at the time of their 10-round clash in Aug. '13. It was the last loss that Taguchi has suffered in the ring, having since won five straight.
Jake Donovan is the managing editor of BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
