Kono made good use of footwork to avert Denkaosen’s opening attack and occasionally scored with long rights to the face. The fourth saw Kono connect with a countering right, dropping the 37-year-old Thailander with good damage. Denkaosen came back hard to dominate the fifth and sixth rounds, but a trick happened early in round eight. Kono’s very well-timed right exploded at the face of Denkaosen, who fell face down until the referee Raul Caiz Sr. completed a fatal ten. The packed-house crowd at the Korakuen Hall celebrated his finest coronation.