World Boxing Association (WBA) featherweight champion Chris John of Indonesia successfully defended his title for the 10th time in a row after beating Japanese contender Hiroyouki Enoki in Tokyo on Friday.
Chris won on points in a unanimous 118-110, 118-110, 117-111 decision in his fifth mandatory title bout, a 12-round match held at Korakuen Hall. He scored most of his points in the first five rounds, thanks to a combination of solid defending and aggressive attacking.
Despite having a shorter reach -- 175 centimeters to Enoki's 177.5 -- Chris managed to land most of his jabs and uppercuts, giving the home favorite little room to exercise his typically aggressive technique.
Enoki, born on the same day as Chris -- Sept. 14, 1979 -- changed his tactics in the sixth round to launch close-range attacks and block a flurry of punches from Chris.
Enoki grew in confidence to dominate the seventh and eighth rounds, repeatedly cornering the defending champion.
In the 10th and 11th rounds, Chris regained control of the fight and maintained his upper hand until the final bell.
With this victory, Chris extends his unbeaten run to 42 wins (22 KOs) and 1 tie, and ends Enoki's unbeaten run of 27 wins (19 KOs) and 2 ties.
"Enoki has strong punches and some of them hit me so hard and left a cut in my right temple in the fifth round," Chris was quoted as saying by Antara at the post-fight press conference.
"Fortunately I managed to maintain control of the fight until the final round," he said.
"I predicted a tough fight against Enoki. And it was. But from the very beginning, I believed I could beat him," he said.
Chris was earlier quoted by SecondsOut.com that after sweeping aside the Japanese challenger, he planned to fight American Rocky Juarez in the United States next January, adding that negotiations with Golden Boy Promotion were still underway.
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