Middleweight contender Meiirim Nursultanov remained unbeaten Saturday night, stopping Kazuto Takesato in the eighth round Saturday night at the Paradise City Plaza in Incheon, South Korea.

Nursultanov, who is originally from Ayagoz, Kazakhstan and now resides in Oxnard, California, improves to 19-0, 11 knockouts. 

Both unbeaten fighters produced solid exchanges in the pocket throughout the fight. The ebb and flow of the fight continued during the later rounds as the fight was up for grabs.

About a minute left in round 8, Nursultanov landed an overhand right to the head that stunned Takesato. Nursultanov followed up, backing Takesako back into a corner, where he threw a series of hooks and crosses to the head. One cross landed to the chin, dropping Takesato face-first to the canvas. Referee Yuji Fukuchi immediately stopped the fight at 2:33.

At the time of the stoppage, Nursultanov was up 68-65, 68-65, and 67-66 on the judges’ scorecards. 

Nursultanov had not fought since October 1, defeating Marcelo Coceres by unanimous decision. The 29-year-old is managed by Egis Klimas and is ranked in the top 10 by three major sanctioning bodies.

Takesato, who resides in Tokyo, Japan, drops to 15-1-1, 14 KOs. The 31-year-old had won his last five bouts, all by knockout, since a split-decision draw against Shuji Kato in March 2019. He would win the rematch over Kato by knockout five months later.

Also on the card that was co-promoted by Ichitaro Ishii and Masayuki Ito, featherweight prospect Japhethlee Llamido of Norwalk, California defeated former world junior featherweight titleholder Ryosuke Iwasa by unanimous decision. 

Scores were 79-73, 79-73, and 80-72 for Llamido.

The 23-year-old, who has fought on Golden Boy Promotions and Thompson Boxing cards throughout Southern California, improves to 11-0, 4 KOs. 

Iwasa, a resident of Kashiwa, Japan, drops to 28-5, 18 KOs. He has lost two of his last three fights. He lost his IBF world title to TJ Doheny in August 2018. 

Lightweight Min Ho Jung of Suwon, South Korea defeated previously-unbeaten Hironori Mishiro by technical decision. Scores were 50-46, 49-47, and 48-47 for Jung, who goes to 15-4-2, 4 KOs.

The fight was stopped at 1:28 of the fifth round due to a cut over the right eye of Mishiro from an accidental clash of heads. 

Mishiro, who resides in Yokohama, Japan, falls to 12-1-1, 4 KOs. 

Francisco A. Salazar has written for BoxingScene since September 2012 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. He can be reached by email at santio89@yahoo.com or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing