Yafai beats Ishida on points, keeps WBA super-flyweight belt
CARDIFF, Wales (AP) British boxer Kal Yafai made a second successful defense of his WBA super-flyweight title with a unanimous decision over mandatory challenger Sho Ishida on Saturday.
The judges scored it 118-110, 116-112 and 116-112 in favor of Yafai, who handed his Japanese opponent the first loss of his career in Cardiff.
Yafai moved to 23-0 (14 KOs) and has his sights on lucrative fights in the United States in a division that contains titleholders Srisaket Sor Rungvisai, Naoya Inoue, and Jerwin Ancajas.
''I wasn't too impressed with my performance out there,'' said Yafai, who gave up a four-inch (10-centimeter) height advantage to Ishida (24-1). ''A bit sluggish but I grinded out the win.''
They were fighting on the undercard of the world heavyweight title fight between Anthony Joshua and Carlos Takam.