Moruti Mthalane Stops Masahiro Sakamoto; Retains belt

[Ruthless-RKO]

Wynn Palace Cotai, Macao - IBF flyweight world champion Moruti Mthalane (37-2, 25 KOs) stopped tough challenger Masahiro Sakamoto (13-2, 9 KOs) in ten rounds of action.

Coming in, Sakamoto had won five fights in a row by knockout - and two of them came in 2018. He lost a twelve round majority decision to Sho Kimura in a WBO regional title fight in November of 2016.

Mthalane came in with a very impressive streak of wins - which began following a TKO defeat at the hands of Nonito Donaire in November of 2008. Since that loss, he's been riding high. He captured the IBF title with a decision over Julio Cesar Miranda in 2009 and he's held the title for the last ten years - fighting off top challengers such as Zolani Tete, Johnreil Casimero and earlier this year Muhammad Waseem, who had Mthalane down in round eleven.