The Dragon breathes fire
6 of 14
Click on the photos above to see scenes from fight night.
"The Dragon" rarely looked in danger of relinquishing his eight-year grip on the World Boxing Association (WBA) crown, despite being briefly put on the back foot in the seventh round by Kimura.
John recovered well and dominated the remaining rounds to emerge with a unanimous 118-109, 118-109 and 117-110 victory, delighting a 4,000-strong partisan crowd at Singapore's Marina Bay Sands arena.
John, who has faced calls to fight more often outside of Asia, where he has a huge fan base, now moves to 47 wins, including 22 knockouts and two draws. Kimura falls to 24-5-2, with nine wins within the distance.
Hard-hitting Kimura had promised a tough fight but was little match for John's crisp boxing and effective punching. However, he earned warm praise from the Indonesian champion.
"I tried my best... Kimura is the toughest boxer from Japan I have ever fought," said the jubilant John, 32.
On the undercard, Indonesia's Daud Yordan stunned the Philippines' Lorenzo "Thunderbolt" Villaneuva with a second round technical knockout to take home the vacant International Boxing Organisation featherweight belt.
The fight referee was forced to award the fight to Yordan after Villanueva appeared visibly dazed 66 seconds into the second round, reeling from quickfire knockdowns by the Indonesian.
Top Stories
British mobile phone giant Vodafone said Tuesday that annual net profits tumbled 90 percent after taking a vast impairment charge relating to its businesses in debt-laden eurozone nations Italy and Spain.
British mobile phone giant Vodafone said on Tuesday that annual net profit plunged 90 percent after it took a vast £7.7-billion ($11.7 billion, 9.1-billion-euro) impairment charge relating to its businesses in debt-laden eurozone nations Italy and Spain.
British mobile phone giant Vodafone said on Tuesday that annual net profit plunged 90 percent after it took a vast £7.7-billion ($11.7 billion, 9.1-billion-euro) impairment charge relating to its businesses in debt-laden eurozone nations Italy and Spain.
British mobile phone giant Vodafone said on Tuesday that annual net profit plunged 90 percent after it took a vast £7.7-billion ($11.7 billion, 9.1-billion-euro) impairment charge relating to its businesses in debt-laden eurozone nations Italy and Spain.
Microsoft offers a glimpse Tuesday at a new-generation Xbox as videogame consoles evolve into home entertainment centers and adapt to competition from smartphones and tablets.
India's Test paceman Shanthakumaran Sreesanth and two other bowlers were to appear Tuesday in court over allegations that they accepted tens of thousands of dollars for spot-fixing, police said.
