Nonito Donaire falls to Riku Masuda in Japan

Nonito Donaire (43-10, 28 KOs) lost via eighth round technical knockout to Riku Masuda (10-1, 9 KOs).

The official time of stoppage for their 10-round bantamweight clash was 1:12. Their bout was an eliminator for the WBA bantamweight world title. That strap is currently held by Seiya Tsutsumi.

Donaire-Masuda headlined a Teiken Promotions card at the Yokohama Cultural Gymnasium (Yokohama Buntai) in Japan. Fight fans in Japan could catch the action live on U-Next. Those in Latin America were able to do so with Disney+. It was also broadcast on ESPN Deportes and ESPN Unlimited in the United States.

Riku Masuda stops Nonito Donaire in round eight

Donaire kept things competitive early on. He was able to consistently land the jab and hit Masuda with one-twos. Things took a drastic turn in round five, however, when the pair accidentally clashed heads. This caused a cut by the right eye of Donaire. Masuda then opted to throw punches at close range and was starting to break his opponent down.

With over a minute to go in round six, Masuda was pressing forward and throwing a barrage of punches. Donaire responded with a left and right hook that clearly rocked the Japanese fighter. Masuda recovered, however, and by the end of the round went back to being on the front foot and landing at close range.

Donaire was dropped by a one-two upstairs with just 20 seconds left in the seventh. Although he got up, the fight was nearing its end. Masuda had the upper hand and was the fresher of the two. Donaire lost a point in the eighth due to a member of his corner being in the ring at the start of the round. After Masuda landed multiple straights to the head, Donaire’s corner threw in the towel and put an end to proceedings.

Fights from the Nonito Donaire vs. Riku Masuda undercard

Anthony Olascuaga (12-1, 9 KOs) won via ninth round technical knockout against Jukiya Iimura (9-2, 2 KOs). The official time of stoppage was 1:19. Olascuaga remains the WBO flyweight world champion with the victory. He won the title in 2024 with a stoppage of Riku Kano. This was his fifth title defence. A right uppercut followed by a left hook to the head dropped Iimura in round seven. Things did not get better for him after that as he continued to take a beating. Referee Mark Nelson put an end to proceedings in the ninth following a massive left hook from Olascuaga.

Shokichi Iwata (16-2, 12 KOs) won a technical decision against Thammanoon Niyomtrong (29-2, 11 KOs). The time of stoppage was 1:33 of round eight. The scores at that time read 79-73 (x2) and 78-74. Iwata is now the WBC light flyweight world champion with the victory. This is his second stint as a world champion, having also held the WBO light flyweight title previously. Niyomtrong was cut over the left eyebrow in round three. The cut worsened as the fight progressed and the bout was stopped in round eight and sent to the scorecards.

Ryusei Matsumoto (8-0, 4 KOs) won a unanimous decision against Yuni Takada (16-10-3, 6 KOs) in their rematch. Scores for the 12-round minimumweight clash were 120-108 across the board. The first fight between the pair took place last year and ended in a technical decision win for Matsumoto.

Hayato Aiko (2-2-1, 0 KOs) and Natsuki Kuramochi (1-0-1, 0 KOs) fought to a split draw in a four-round featherweight bout. One judge had it 39-37 for Aiko while another saw it the same for Kuramochi. The third judge had it 38-38.