The new World Boxing Association (WBA) flyweight champion, Seigo Yuri Akui, was named Fighter of the Month by the pioneer body.

This Thursday, February 1, the first ranking of the year was published with the individual awards, in which Kenshiro Teraji was also recognized with the Honorable Mention. 

Yuri Akui broke Artem Dalakian’s long reign on January 23 by defeating him by unanimous decision in Osaka. The Japanese made a great fight and took away the Ukrainian’s undefeated record to keep the 112-pound belt. 

The 28-year-old fighter got cards of 119-109, 117-111 and 116-112 as evidence of his dominance in the ring and thus begins a new path as world champion at this point in his career. 

For his part, Teraji had to work hard in one of the best fights of this new year but in the end he got a majority decision against Carlos Cañizales in the same event on January 23. The unified light flyweight champion knocked down the Venezuelan but was also knocked down in the fight, however, he was able to bounce back for a hard-fought victory. 

The January rankings lists are available as of Thursday in the corresponding section of the WBA website.