WBC bantamweight champion Shinsuke Yamanaka fell short of posting another KO win in a world title bout, but managed to retain his belt for the seventh consecutive time by defeating Thailand’s Suriyan Sor Rungvisai in an unanimous decision (114-110, 116-108, 115-109) at Yoyogi National Gymnasium Annex on Wednesday night.

Yamanaka struggled early against the bullish Suriyan, who kept coming forward against the Japanese southpaw, but found a way to inflict damage on him in the second half of the contest.

Yamanaka knocked down Suriyan three times, once each in the seventh, eighth and ninth rounds. But Suriyan, a former WBC flyweight title contender, refused to stay on the canvas.

Yamanaka had a few more chances to finish the Thai with a knockout during the remainder of the fight with his signature straight left, but Suriyan, ranked No. 1 in the weight class, was simply too tough both mentally and physically.

Yamanaka said after the fight that he wanted to end it with a KO to entertain the crowd. But he seemed content with how he performed nevertheless.

“I was a little too careful early and gave the opponent a chance to attack me,” said Yamanaka, who maintained his unbeaten mark as pro (22 wins, two draws). “But I was able to fight keeping my composure after the halfway point.”

Yamanaka, who had notched five straight KO wins going into Wednesday’s bout, also gave credit to Suriyan for not giving him much chance to land consecutive blows.

“He gave me a hard time hitting my punches,” Yamanaka, 32, said. “I would hit one punch, but he wouldn’t give me further opportunities. And he was so patient. He was mentally strong.”

After the fourth round, Suriyan was slightly ahead as one judge had Suriyan with more points, while the other two had theme ven.

“I think I did everything I could do for now,” Suriyan said.

Before the match, Yamanaka’s team insisted that the fighter would look for a unification bout with a champion of another organization, to be held in the United States next year.

“Hopefully, I want to fight in a unification bout to determine the strongest bantamweight boxer,” the native of Shiga Prefecture said from the ring.

Before the Yamanaka match, former WBC featherweight and super featherweight champion Takahiro Ao, who is seeking a lightweight world title belt, also scored an unanimous decision win over Mexico’s Juan Carlos Salgado, also an ex-champ.

“I’m frustrated with myself,” Ao said. “I’ve got to be better (to complete a triple world championship).”