Rising star Hiroki Horiike retains OPBF super-lightweight title with a TKO in Tokyo

Top prospect Hiroki Horiike retains OPBF strap in Japan

On a vibrant night of high-level boxing held last Saturday, August 1, 2026, Tokyo’s iconic Korakuen Hall witnessed a solid performance by monarch Hiroki Horiike (9-0, 6 KOs), who successfully retained the super lightweight championship of the Orient and Pacific Boxing Federation (OPBF), an organisation affiliated with the World Boxing Council (WBC).

Promoted by Yokohama Hikari, the card had as its main dish the clash between the defending titlist and the number 8 ranked contender, South Korean 'Lightning' Yoon Tak (7-3-1, 7 KOs), in a clash that kept Japanese fans on the edge of their seats.

From the opening bell, unbeaten Hiroki Horiike imposed the conditions of the bout, dictating the tempo with accurate combinations and absolute control of distance. Despite the courage and bravery shown by Korean KO artist Yoon Tak, the Japanese champion’s punch power was definitively tipping the scale in his favour.

The outcome came at 2 minutes and 42 seconds of the seventh stanza, when referee Shuhei Terayama stopped the action to save further punishment to the South Korean challenger, declaring the TKO in favour of Horiike to seal the second successful defence of his regional reign.

With this emphatic victory, 24-year-old rising star Horiike reaffirms himself as one of the strongest prospects in the stacked super-lightweight standings in the Orient and Pacific region, maintaining a firm step on his upwards path within the WBC world rankings, where Briton Dalton Smith reigns supreme.

Horikke's opponents' combined record adds up to a respectable 85-40.