IBF Flyweight King Moruti Mthalane (39-2, 26 KOs) retained his crown on Monday with the ninth round stoppage of three divisional world champion Akira Yaegashi (28-7, 16 KOs) in Yokohama, Japan.

Yaegashi seemed to get off to a solid start, using his quicker footwork to win rounds but soon Mthalane would find a tactic to slow him down, finding a home for his thudding shots to the belly of the Japanese fighter which noticeably hurt the challenger in the seventh.

Mthalane was now on the ascent, hurting Yaegashi again in the eighth before the referee called a halt to proceedings in the ninth.

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