Anthony “Princesa” Olascuaga is still WBO World Flyweight champion — and looking every inch the best flyweight in the world. The 26-year-old Californian stopped Japanese challenger Jukiya Iimura in round 9 at Yokohama Budokan on Sunday, turning in another composed, technically precise championship defense on home-promotion turf.
The scorecards at the point of stoppage — 80-71, 80-71, 79-72 — don’t leave much room for debate. All three judges had Olascuaga winning every round. This was a masterclass.
Anthony Olascuaga def. Jukiya Iimura TKO — Round 9 📍 Yokohama Budokan, Yokohama, Japan | Sunday, 15 March 2026 WBO World Flyweight Championship (112 lbs) — 12 rounds scheduled | U Next Boxing 5
Those stoppage scores — 80-71 and 79-72 on all three cards — tell you Olascuaga was winning every single round before the referee stepped in. In boxing terms, that’s a near-faultless championship performance. Iimura was never allowed to settle, never found his rhythm, and never threatened to turn the fight.
The significance of those margins is this: Iimura came in at 9-1, ranked among Japan’s best flyweights, with the crowd behind him. Yet the three experienced judges watching every punch all scored him without a single round won through eight complete frames. That’s not just a win — that’s a statement about where Olascuaga currently stands in the division.
The ninth proved the breaking point. Olascuaga had Iimura pinned on the ropes and landed a sharp combination that prompted the referee’s intervention. Iimura — to his credit — had taken the punishment professionally, but there was no answer.
| Olascuaga | Iimura | |
|---|---|---|
| Record (after) | 11-1 | 9-2 |
| Age | 26 | 28 |
| Nationality | 🇺🇸 USA | 🇯🇵 Japan |
| Height | 5’4” / 163cm | 5’5” / 164cm |
| Reach | 65.4” / 166cm | 66.1” / 168cm |
| Stance | Orthodox | Orthodox |
| Debut | 2020 | 2021 |
Olascuaga came in as a massive 1/12 favourite — and his recent form explains why. Since turning professional in 2020, he’s built a resume anchored by stoppages:
| Date | Opponent | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Dec 2025 | Tatsuya Kuwahara | W TKO4 — title defense |
| Sep 2025 | Luis Camacho | W TKO2 — title defense |
| Mar 2025 | Hiroto Kyoguchi | W UD12 — WBO title won |
| Oct 2024 | Jose Gonzalez | W TKO1 |
| Jul 2024 | Ryuji Kano | W KO3 |
The Kyoguchi win was the watershed moment — Kyoguchi had been a two-weight world champion, a renowned knockout artist, respected throughout the junior flyweight and flyweight divisions. That Olascuaga outboxed and outworked him over 12 rounds in Japan announced the division had a new force. The stoppages of Camacho and Kuwahara in the defenses that followed showed no signs of a champion content to simply hold onto what he’d won.
Tonight’s TKO of Iimura continues that pattern. He doesn’t just win — he finishes.
With the WBO belt in his possession and a string of stoppages behind him, Olascuaga is approaching the threshold where the division’s major unification bouts become realistic. The IBF, WBA and WBC flyweight champions will have taken note. A unified super-fight is the logical horizon.
For Iimura, tonight’s defeat is a learning experience rather than a ceiling. At 28, with solid fundamentals and genuine resilience shown over nine hard rounds, future opportunities at the highest level remain within reach.
Also on the card at Yokohama Budokan: Riku Masuda stopped the legendary Nonito Donaire in round 8 in a commanding WBA Bantamweight final eliminator performance that has the boxing world asking hard questions about “The Filipino Flash’s” future.
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