Daiya Kira defeats Carlos Canizales to secure WBA light flyweight title

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Just 19 rounds into his pro career, 23-year-old light flyweight sensation Daiya Kira is a world champion after blowing away division stalwart Carlos Canizales this morning in Yokohama. In what was by all accounts a dominant showing, Kira (5-0, 4 KO) dropped Canizales (28-4-1, 20 KO) in the third, outclassed him through the middle rounds, then absolutely thumped him with one of the loudest left hooks I’ve heard in a while in the seventh. Canizales somehow beat the count, but unsteady legs prompted the referee to intervene. El vídeo del KO de Daiya Kira a Carlos Cañizales, cortesía de @PermantexG pic.twitter.com/9A09VuXjwL — JuliusJulianis (@julianisjulius) September 2, 2026 For those unfamiliar with Canizales, doing this to him at any age is a feat. His only prior stoppage loss came on the heels of a lengthy layoff and his subsequent defeats were a razor-thin decision loss to Kenshiro Teraji and a later-avenged robbery courtesy of Panya Pradabsri. Doing this to him in your fifth pro fight after only going past the second round once is ludicrous. Keep an eye on this kid. On other noteworthy action, Takeshi Ishii (12-1, 9 KO) needed just 65 seconds to put away former titlist Wilfredo “Bimbito” Mendez (20-4-2, 6 KO) for the secondary WBA minimumweight title. As that link states, that’s likely to be upgraded to the real deal after Oscar Collazo finalizes his move to 112.

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23-year-old phenom Daiya Kira mauled former champion Carlos Canizales in impressive fashion