Chrisjon retains WBA title

Chrisjon retains WBA title

Agence France-Presse, Tokyo

Chrisjon of Indonesia defeated Japan's Osamu Sato with a unanimous decision on Friday to retain his World Boxing Association (WBA) featherweight title.

The judges from South Korea, Belgium and Finland scored it 116-113, 117-111 and 120-109 all in favor of the defending champion.

Chrisjon, who hardly had a glove laid on him all night, said afterwards he wanted to become the undisputed king of the division.

"I want to keep the title as long as possible and hopefully I can become the unified world champion," he said.

Chrisjon used an effective combination of left jabs and hooks and straight rights to control almost all the scheduled 12 rounds.

Sato simply moved forward and tried to fight from close range, but Chrisjon's superior ring craft meant there was only ever going to be one winner.

Chrisjon unleashed an array of punches from all the angles to dominate the 11th round and went on to keep a wide points lead for the victory.

The 24-year-old champion, who defeated Oscar Leon of Colombia in September last year to win the previously vacant title, stretched his perfect record to 34 wins, including 19 KOs.

For Sato, a former WBA super bantamweight champion and currently ranked seventh in the featherweight class, it was his third defeat against 27 wins, including 16 KOs, and three draws.

"I tried to do the best I can, but I couldn't," said a dejected Sato. "I have no idea about my future plan."