Astrolabio knocked out

MANILA, Philippines — Japanese star Junto Nakatani hardly broke a sweat in disposing of Filipino challenger Vincent Astrolabio to defend the World Boxing Council bantamweight title last night at the Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo, Japan.

The unbeaten Nakatani (now 28-0, with 21 KOs) has barely warmed up in the opening round when he took out Astrolabio. And all it took was a crushing left straight to the body that sent Astrolabio down on all fours, grimacing in pain.

The Filipino tried to get up and beat the count, his hands on his beltline. But he went down again, forcing the referee to wave off the bout.

The official time of the stoppage was 2:37 of the first round.