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Boxer Mahyar Monshipour successfully defended his WBA super bantamweight crown for the fourth time when he defeated Japan's Shigeru Nakazato by technical knockout in the sixth-round of the title match in Marseille on Friday.

Iranian-born Monshipour floored Nakazato, who had made a bright start, with a right hook to the chin before the referee stopped the match 2 minutes, 47 seconds into the sixth.

"Winning was a matter of course. Nakazato was too one-dimensional," said Monshipour, who improved his record to 27-2-2.

Nakazato, who was challenging for the world title for the third time, said he had given it his best shot.

"I thought I'd really go for it in the fifth round and just try to make the best of the chances I had," said Nakazato, whose record dropped to 24-8-1.

"I thought I threw some effective punches but he didn't go down so that's life."