Nonito Donaire falls to Riku Masuda in Japan
Revealed on March 15, 2026
Nonito Donaire (43-10, 28 KOs) misplaced through eighth spherical technical knockout to Riku Masuda (10-1, 9 KOs).
The official time of stoppage for his or her 10-round bantamweight conflict was 1:12. Their bout was an eliminator for the WBA bantamweight world title. That strap is at the moment held by Seiya Tsutsumi.
Donaire-Masuda headlined a Teiken Promotions card on the Yokohama Cultural Gymnasium (Yokohama Buntai) in Japan. Struggle followers in Japan may catch the motion reside on U-Subsequent. These in Latin America had been in a position to take action with Disney+. It was additionally broadcast on ESPN Deportes and ESPN Limitless in the USA.
Riku Masuda stops Nonito Donaire in spherical eight
Donaire saved issues aggressive early on. He was capable of persistently land the jab and hit Masuda with one-twos. Issues took a drastic flip in spherical 5, nevertheless, when the pair by chance clashed heads. This precipitated a lower by the suitable eye of Donaire. Masuda then opted to throw punches at shut vary and was beginning to break his opponent down.
With over a minute to go in spherical six, Masuda was urgent ahead and throwing a barrage of punches. Donaire responded with a left and proper hook that clearly rocked the Japanese fighter. Masuda recovered, nevertheless, and by the top of the spherical went again to being on the entrance foot and touchdown at shut vary.
Donaire was dropped by a one-two upstairs with simply 20 seconds left within the seventh. Though he acquired up, the battle was nearing its finish. Masuda had the higher hand and was the brisker of the 2. Donaire misplaced some extent within the eighth as a consequence of a member of his nook being within the ring in the beginning of the spherical. After Masuda landed a number of straights to the pinnacle, Donaire’s nook threw within the towel and put an finish to proceedings.
Fights from the Nonito Donaire vs. Riku Masuda undercard
Anthony Olascuaga (12-1, 9 KOs) received through ninth spherical technical knockout in opposition to Jukiya Iimura (9-2, 2 KOs). The official time of stoppage was 1:19. Olascuaga stays the WBO flyweight world champion with the victory. He received the title in 2024 with a stoppage of Riku Kano. This was his fifth title defence. A proper uppercut adopted by a left hook to the pinnacle dropped Iimura in spherical seven. Issues didn’t get higher for him after that as he continued to take a beating. Referee Mark Nelson put an finish to proceedings within the ninth following an enormous left hook from Olascuaga.
Shokichi Iwata (16-2, 12 KOs) received a technical resolution in opposition to Thammanoon Niyomtrong (29-2, 11 KOs). The time of stoppage was 1:33 of spherical eight. The scores at the moment learn 79-73 (x2) and 78-74. Iwata is now the WBC mild flyweight world champion with the victory. That is his second stint as a world champion, having additionally held the WBO mild flyweight title beforehand. Niyomtrong was lower over the left eyebrow in spherical three. The lower worsened because the battle progressed and the bout was stopped in spherical eight and despatched to the scorecards.
Ryusei Matsumoto (8-0, 4 KOs) received a unanimous resolution in opposition to Yuni Takada (16-10-3, 6 KOs) of their rematch. Scores for the 12-round minimumweight conflict had been 120-108 throughout the board. The primary battle between the pair passed off final yr and led to a technical resolution win for Matsumoto.
Hayato Aiko (2-2-1, 0 KOs) and Natsuki Kuramochi (1-0-1, 0 KOs) fought to a cut up attract a four-round featherweight bout. One choose had it 39-37 for Aiko whereas one other noticed it the identical for Kuramochi. The third choose had it 38-38.
