Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation bantamweight champion Malcolm Tuñacao retained his title with a sixth-round technical knockout win over Japanese challenger Daigo Nakahiro at the Prefectural Gymnasium in Osaka, Japan, on Saturday.

The Inquirer learned from OPBF official Koji Ishizuka that Nakahiro, the WBA No. 9 super flyweight who was a late replacement for OPBF No. 6 Mikio Yasuda, became unable to fight due to an injury at 2 minutes 32 seconds of Round 6.

Ishizuka added that Tuñacao “must make an immediate mandatory defense.”

The 32-year-old southpaw Tuñacao was defending for the third time the title he regained with a split decision over Korea’s Seung Suk Chae in February last year.

The fight was on the undercard of the WBC super flyweight title bout that saw Mexico’s lanky Tomas Rojas (35-12-1, 23 KOs) keeping his title by beating Japan’s Nobuo Nashiro (14-3-1, 9 KOs) via unanimous decision.

All three judges, Ed Kugler (116-111), Hubert Min (114-113) and Jae Bong Kim (116-113), scored the fight in favor of the champion.

Another Filipino, super flyweight Sonny Boy Jaro (31-10-5, 20 KOs) lost by unanimous decision to Japan’s Hirofumi Mukai (5-0).

Ronnie Nathanielsz, Phil. Daily Inquirer