The first 2024 candidate for fight of the year took place in Osaka, Japan, on Tuesday. Kenshiro Teraji retained his Light flyweight WBA and WBC title with a majority deceision against Canizales.

The scorecards of 114-112, 114-112 and 113-113 showed the parity of the fight, a confrontation with a lot of action and knockdowns for each side that kept everyone in tension during its development. 

The fight started with fierce exchanges from the first round and the action that was to come was already predicted. In the second round, Teraji landed a right hand that sent Cañizales to the canvas, who got up visibly damaged and survived until the bell.

However, in the third round, the Venezuelan came out with everything and gave a straight right to the Japanese to knock him down in the final part of the chapter and level the actions quickly.

From that moment on, the fight was carried out in a frenetic rhythm in which each one had his good moments and there were punches from both sides. 

The final part of the fight had a more active and aggressive Cañizales, while Teraji was in charge of walking the ring and scoring points when he could. The judges decided in favor of the local by the smallest of details in a very close fight. 

Kenshiro now has a record of 23 wins, 1 loss and 14 knockouts, while Cañizales has a record of 26 wins, 2 losses, 1 draw and 19 knockouts.