Junior flyweight champion Kenshiro Teraji defended his Ring Magazine, WBA and WBC titles with a narrow majority decision victory over veteran contender Carlos Canizales on Tuesday at EDION Arena in Osaka, Japan.

It was rousing nip-and-tuck battle that saw both junior flyweights hit the canvas. Teraji (23-1, 14 KOs), who won by scores of 114-112 (twice) and 113-113, dropped Canizales with a right to the forehead in Round 2. Canizales (26-2-1, 19 KOs) returned the favor in Round 3, flooring Teraji with a right hand.

In Round 4, The Ring champ and No. 4 contender let it all hang out with heated exchanges. Canizalez, who did a good job of circling Teraji whenever the Japanese star applied pressure, mixed punches to the body and head well. Teraji’s key punches were his right cross and jab.

As the action remained hot in the fifth, sixth and seventh, Teraji often allowed the relentless Canizales to “steal” rounds with furious flurries right before the bell. A left hook at the end of Round 6 appeared to rock the 32-year-old Kyoto native. After a bruising back-and-forth Round 7, Teraji’s corner pleaded for the champion to rely more on his jab and lateral movement rather than his right cross and pressure.

The grueling bout was starting to look like Teraji’s lone pro loss to Masamichi Yabuki, who took the WBC title by grinding him down to an upset 10th-round stoppage in 2021. Teraji, who regained the green belt with a third-round KO in an immediate rematch and then added the Ring Magazine and WBA titles to his collection with a seventh-round stoppage of Hiroto Kyoguchi in 2022, appeared to be losing his grasp on the 108-pound hardware going into the final stretch with Canizales.

“He was so tough,” Teraji said during his post-fight interview. “I had to change my strategy over the second half of the fight and try to control the distance.”

Teraji got on his stick-and-move game and got the better of Canizales for much of the late rounds, but the 30-year-old Venezuelan was still able to force heated exchanges in the final minutes of Rounds 9 and 10. Teraji increased his movement in Round 11 and then pretty much “ran” out the clock in the final stanza, but his safe tactics worked out for him on the official scorecards.

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