By Jake Donovan
Ryoichi Taguchi registered the third successful defense of his junior flyweight title reign, forcing Juan Jose Landaeta to wilt after all 11 rounds Wednesday evening in Tokyo, Japan.
The bout was part of a loaded title fight tripleheader that also includes Takashi Uchiyama in a super featherweight title consolidation bout with Panama's Jezreel Corrales and Kohei Kono risking his super flyweight strap versus Thailand's Inthanon Sithchamuang.
A full fight report will be provided once aired via same-day delay on TV Tokyo in Japan.
Taguchi (24-2-1, 11KOs) claimed his version of the junior flyweight title with a 12-round win over Alberto Rossel on New Year's Eve '14. He has since racked up three consecutive knockout wins to remain champ, with each defense coming in supporting capacity to promotional stablemate Uchiyama.
Overall, Taguchi has won six in a row since a 10-round points loss to Naoya Inoue, who was just 3-0 at the time of their Aug. '13 clash. Inoue has since gone on to claim titles at junior flyweight and super flyweight, with Taguchi remaining the lone fighter to date to go the distance with the prodigious boxer.
Landaeta (27-9-1, 21KOs) comes up short in what is likely his last ever shot at becoming a two-division titlist. The 37-year old southpaw - born in Venezuela but now based out of Japan - held an interim strawweight title earlier in his career, but remains best known for his twice giving Koki Kameda all he could handle in their pair of junior flyweight title fight.
However valiant he's been in previous losses, Landaeta is now 4-6 in his last 10 starts, including just a 2-2 mark since returning to the ring in Dec. '14.
Jake Donovan is the managing editor of BoxingScene.com. Follow him on his shiny new Twitter account: @JakeNDaBox_v2
