The IBF No 1-rated Ryosuke Nishida (9-0; 1) from Japan, who fights from the southpaw stance, upset the defending 31-year-old champion Emmanuel Rodriguez (22-3; 13), winning on a unanimous 12-round points decision on Saturday in Osaka, Japan.
The scores were 117-110 and 115-112 twice.
Going into the fight as the underdog, the less experienced 27-year-old Nishida opened up fast to take the first two rounds, but the defending champion came back to take the third round.
Nishida scored a knockdown in the fourth round and was in control through most of the fight to cause an upset.
BARRIOS RETAINS WBC INTERIM TITLE
Mario Barrios (29-2; 19) won on a hard fought 12 round unanimous points decision against Argentina’s Fabián “TNT” Maidana (22-3; 16) in the Canelo-Munguia co-feature on Saturday night at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Maidana forced the pace in the early rounds but Barrios scored with an overhand right in the third round to send Maidana to the canvas.
Boxing from behind his jab, Barrios applied the pressure throughout, even though his right eye was swollen shut from the eighth round.
FIGUEROA RETAINS WBC INTERIM TITLE
WBC interim featherweight champion Brandon “The Heartbreaker” Figueroa (25-1-1; 19) from Weslaco, Texas won on a knockout against former world champion Jessie Magdaleno (29-3; 18) on Saturday night at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
A big right to the body by Figueroa put Magdaleno down on his knees as the referee Allen Huggins counted him out at 2:59 of the ninth round.
STANIONIS RETAINS WBA WELTERWEIGHT TITLE
Eimantas Stanionis (15-0; 9) from Lithuania retained his WBA welterweight title against two-time Olympian Gabriel Maestre (6-1-1; 5) of Barcelona, winning on a 12-round unanimous points decision on Saturday night at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
In a fast-paced fight, he did enough to retain his unbeaten record.
UNDERCARD RESULTS FROM LAS VEGAS
Junior middleweight Jesus Ramos (21-1; 17) scored a ninth-round stoppage against Venezuela’s Johan Gonzalez (34-3; 33). The time was 2:56.
In another junior middleweight fight, Vito Mielnicki (18-1; 12) from New Jersey won on points over 10 rounds against Ronald Cruz (19-4-1; 12) of Los Angeles. The scores were 99-89, 98-90, and 96-92.
Mexican junior featherweight Alan Picasso (28-0-1; 16), the WBC No 2-rated fighter, won on a fifth-round stoppage against Damien Vasquez (17-4-1; 10) of Las Vegas. The time was 2:11.
Cuban super middleweight William Scull (22-0; 9) won on an eight-round unanimous points decision over Sean Hemphill (16-2; 10) of New Orleans.
The judges scores were 79-72, 78-73, and 76-75.
Scull is the IBF No 1 super middleweight and mandatory challenger for a shot at the title.
Light heavyweight Lawrence King (16-1; 13) won on points over six rounds against Anthony Holloway (7-5-3; 6). The scores were 59-55 on all three judges’ scorecards.
Mexican lightweight Adrian Torres (9-0; 6) scored a unanimous six-round points decision over Arsen Poghosyan (3-2-1; 2). The scores were 60-54 on all three judges’ scorecards.
Lightweight Julian Bridges (5-0; 2) from Antioch, California won on a six-round unanimous points decision over San Diego’s Jabin Chollet (9-1; 7).