Andy Hiraoka calls out Jose Valenzuela after dispatching Ismael Barroso in nine

Andy Hiraoka scored a significant victory when he ended the challenge of the Florida-based Venezuelan cult hero Ismael Barroso after 2:58 of the ninth round.

Yokohama’s Hiraoka improved to 24-0 (19 KOs) after a fight he controlled via distance, pace and even power. Barroso was restricted to a few optimistic swings as he tried to cause the momentum to change, but he repeatedly came up short and he had been dropped three times when the end came.

Barroso, allegedly 41 years of age and always gutsy, is now 25-5-2 (23 KOs), but he soaked up jabs throughout.

Hiraoka was using his speed and range while the crab-like Barroso aimed to time the Japanese fighter’s shots with counters.

The opening round was slow, and in many ways the dye was cast early. Hiraoka was taller, longer, faster – and had the power to negate Barroso’s rushes.

Barroso tried to make things happen more in the third, but Hiraoka’s ability to take a half step back and prod Barroso with a jab meant the Venezuelan visitor couldn’t sufficiently close the gap to alter the pattern of the fight.

Barroso’s heralded power – which secured the stoppage of Ohara Davies in a round in January – meant he remained a threat, but Barroso was often out of range and Hiraoka, dropping his lead hand to his waist, picked away with his jab to control the distance and pace of the contest.

Barroso was cracked by a right in the fifth – he regardless flashed a left off Hiraoka’s chin near the end of the session – but in the sixth Hiraoka caught a lunging Barroso with a cuffing right hook that ensured Barroso hit the canvas for the first time and caused him to fall further adrift on the cards.

At the end of the next, Hiraoka crashed in a left-right as Barroso began to slow further still.

Hiraoka bled from a small cut under his right eye in the seventh and Barroso, in the eighth, did some of his better work as he managed to close the distance and connect with both gloves.

But with a minute left in the ninth, Hiraoka landed a booming left hand and it changed everything. Barroso retreated but wilted under pressure and, although he made it back to his feet, he was down again moments later and the referee called it off before the end of the session.

Barroso’s face was swollen and lumpy and he had been well beaten. The pumped-up Hiraoka, 28, called out WBA junior-welterweight champion Jose Valenzuela.

“I’m coming for you, bro,” said the winner.