Ryuya Moriai’s Second-Round TKO Stuns Eigoro Akai
Ryuya Moriai stopped Eigoro Akai at 1:15 of the second round on February 24, 2025, at Ariake Arena in Tokyo. Their six-round middleweight bout was part of the undercard for Junto Nakatani’s defense against David Cuellar. The quick ending put Moriai back in the win column, but contemporary coverage also noted debate about whether the referee stepped in too soon.
Watch ESPN’s clip of the Moriai–Akai finish.
Moriai entered with a 4-2-1 record and no knockouts, while Akai was 5-3 with four stoppage wins, according to the event preview published by Bad Left Hook. Both were Japanese boxers, and Akai was the more experienced professional. The bout was scheduled for six rounds and served as an early undercard test before the event’s championship fights.
The opening round remained closely contested. Akai found openings and appeared to have success with clean punches, while Moriai’s height and reach presented a different challenge as the two traded at close range. That context mattered because the fight changed quickly in the second. Moriai landed a shot that sent Akai down, and the referee began a count before waving off the contest at 1:15. The official result was a second-round technical knockout, giving Moriai the first stoppage victory of his career.
The stoppage drew discussion. BoxingScene described it as controversial, and the live account at Bad Left Hook recorded that Akai was hurt and went down, then noted that the referee halted the action after it resumed. The published result remains a TKO for Moriai; the debate is about the timing of the intervention, not who won. For Akai, the stoppage added a fourth professional loss at that point. For Moriai, it marked a breakthrough after two defeats and a draw, and ended his stretch without a knockout.
The bout was one of several undercard contests that helped set the stage for the evening’s Japanese title fights. On the same card, Tenshin Nasukawa defeated Jason Moloney on points, Seiya Tsutsumi and Daigo Higa fought to a draw in a WBA bantamweight title bout, and Nakatani stopped Cuellar in the main event. Top Rank’s event page lists Moriai as the winner by second-round TKO alongside the other results.
Moriai continued his professional career after the Akai fight. His current profile at Watanabe Boxing Gym lists him at 6-2-1 with one knockout, reflecting the progress he made after that first stoppage win. Akai’s profile remains available through Teiken Promotions. The Ariake Arena bout was brief, but it was significant in Moriai’s record: it supplied his first stoppage, a clear official result, and a finish that continued to be discussed for its speed.
Sources: Top Rank event results; ESPN video of the finish; BoxingScene report; Watanabe Boxing Gym profile.
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Tags: Boxing, Combat Sports
