YOKOHAMA, Japan - Japan's Yota Sato defended his World Boxing Council (WBC) super flyweight title beating Sylvester Lopez of the Philippines by a unanimous decision victory on Sunday.

The three judges counted it 118-110, 116-113, 119-109 all in favour of the defending champion.

"Lopez is ranked top and he has 19 wins and 15 KOs. He is really a strong fighter, so I was a bit nervous in the first round. I will fight more aggressively in my next defence of the title," said Sato, 28.

"I'm not satisfied with the way I fought today, but I promise that I will improve a lot for my next match," he added.

Lopez looked passive in the first round, allowing the Japanese to connect an array of right hooks. Sato again fired a couple of effective right hooks in the third round as he led 40-36, 39-38 and 40-36 after the fourth round.