By Jake Donovan

A pair of fourth-round knockouts were offered by rising super flyweight Rex Tso and middleweight prospect Ryota Murata in separate bouts Saturday evening in Hong Kong.

Tso - born and raised in Hong Kongpicked up his first win in nearly eight months, preserving his unbeaten record after turning away the challenge of Young Gil Bae in the evening's main event.

The 28-year old southpaw had been out of the ring since last August, but showed no signs of ring rust in easily dispatching the one-time title challenger. Bae - a 36-year old fringe contender from South Korea - is best known for having come up well short in a stoppage loss to unbeaten strawweight champ Wanheng Menayothin last November.

His first career fight in China came at a more natural weight for his frame, but was no match for the local favorite. Tso controlled the action from beginning to end before forcing a stoppage in round four.

Now ranked among the Top 10 in all of the major sanctioning bodies, Tso advances to 19-0 (12KOs) as he eyes a title fight within the next 12 months. 

Bae falls to 27-6-1 (21KOs), losing for the first time in his past three starts.

The evening's chief support saw Murata preserve a summer showcase in Las Vegas after forcing Brazil's Felipe Santos Pedroso to wilt in four rounds.

Murata - a 2012 Olympic Gold medalist for Japan - appeared for the second consecutive time in China, this time sticking around a little longer. His previous appearance came this past January in Shanghai, stopping Gaston Alejandro Vega in two rounds. 

Santos (13-2, 11KOs) did his best to put up more of a fight, but quickly found himself severely outgunned in his first career fight outside of South America. Murata had to work a little harder to get the win, but closed the show in round four to run his mark to 10-0 (7KOs). 

Next up for the unbeaten middleweight is a July 23 clash with George "Comanche Boy" Tahdooahnippah. The bout will be showcased on the undercard of the super lightweight title unification battle between unbeaten champs Terence Crawford and Viktor Postol, which headlines live on HBO PPV. Murata's showcase will air live on the Top Rank international feed. 

Jake Donovan is the managing editor of BoxingScene.com. Follow his shiny new Twitter account: @JakeNDaBox_v2