By Ronnie Nathanielsz

Monico Laurente, who was knocked out cold in 45 seconds in his last fight by Eden Sonsona in a battle for the vacant Philippine bantamweight title on December 12, 2009, has suffered a 6th round TKO in his first bout after that crushing defeat.

Laurente was beaten by Japanese super bantamweight Yuta Nagai who is ranked No. 6 by the Japan Boxing Commission in a fight card at the Korakuen Hall in Tokyo.

It was Nagai’s sixth straight win since dropping a ten round split decision to then undefeated Hidenori Kobayashi on May 19, 2007.

With the win the 28 year old Nagai improved his record to 25-4-3 with 16 knockouts while the 26 year old Laurente who suffered back-to-back stoppages dropped to 18-7 with 3 knockouts.