By Francisco Salazar

Masayuki Ito dropped Christopher Diaz once en route to a 12 round unanimous decision victory late Saturday night at the Civic Center in Kissimmee, Florida.

Ito came into the fight as the underdog against the popular Diaz, who hails from Barranquitas, Puerto Rico. It felt like a home crowd for Diaz, as Kissimmee is a suburb of Orlando, where there is a large Puerto Rican population that resides in the area.

Buoyed by trainer Rudy Hernandez in his corner, Ito displayed confidence in being the aggressor throughout most of the fight, especially early in the fight. Diaz wanted to work behind a jab, but Ito forced him to fight off his back foot.

Ito scored a knockdown midway through round four, landing a series of right hands to the head that dropped Diaz.

To his credit, Diaz was game, but was hit repeatedly by right hands from Ito during the second half of the fight. The amount of right hands Ito landed produced significant swelling below the left eye of Diaz.

Sensing he was down in the fight, Diaz closed the distance and initiated exchanges, but Ito was more accurate with his punches.

Scores were 118-109, 117-110, and 116-111 for Ito (24-1-1, 12 knockouts), who has now won his last eight bouts. 

"I believed in myself," said Ito after the fight. "I knew I was going to become a world champion, and that is exactly what happened. Since the beginning of the fight, I knew I had more power and I dropped him. In my mind, I kept saying it was a close fight and that is why I kept going for the knockout."

"I knew that this was going to be a good fight. I respect Diaz for coming ready to fight. He is a warrior. This is a dream come true for me. Now, I want bigger fights."

Diaz (23-1, 15 KOs) suffers his first loss as a pro.

In the co-feature bout, late-sub Gabriel Bracero stopped fringe welterweight contender Artemio Reyes in the fifth round.

Bracero took the fight on 10 days' notice after Carlos Adames reportedly suffered an injury during training camp. Reyes, who had won his previous 10 bouts, had not fought in almost a year.

The taller Reyes wanted to fight from distance, keeping Bracero at the end of his punches. With each passing round, Bracero (25-3-1, 6 KOs) closed the distance, focusing his attack to the body of Reyes.

Late in round five, Bracero landed a left hook to the body, followed by a right cross to the head. Reyes turned away, dropping to his knees. Referee Emil Lombardi stopped the fight at 2:43.

"Even though I came in as a last-minute replacement, I was ready," said Bracero, who resides in Brooklyn, New York, but is of Puerto-Rican descent. "I was in camp working hard and helping Robert Easter, Jr. for his fight (against Mikey Garcia)."

"This (fight against Reyes) felt like a sparring session to me. I feel great. I'm hungry. I want to get back in the ring as soon as possible."

Featherweight Vladimir Nikitin won a six round decision over Edward Kakembo. Nikitin, who was making his pro debut, dropped Kakembo (10-5, 3 KOs) once in round four and again in round six. Scores were 60-52, 60-52, and 60-51 for Nikitin, who is best known for scoring a controversial victory over Michael Conlan at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

Bantamweight Antonio Vargas, a 2016 U.S. Olympian, battered Aaron Echeveste Lopez (5-3, 3 KOs) for six rounds, winning a one-sided decision. All three judges scored the bout 60-54 in favor of Vargas, who improves to 7-0, 3 KOs.

In his pro debut, featherweight Luis Melendez scored a highlight-reel first round knockout over Vicente Loredo (1-2, 1 KO)

Francisco A. Salazar has written for Boxingscene.com since September of 2012 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (Calif.) Star newspaper. He can be reached by email at santio89@yahoo.com or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing