TOKYO, Japan (AFP): World Boxing Association super featherweight champion Edwin Valero of Venezuela Thursday beat challenger Nobuhito Honmo for a stunning 22nd consecutive knockout victory.

It was one of three world title bouts Thursday, with WBA super flyweight champion Nobuo Nashiro failing to defend his title but WBC bantamweight champion Hozumi Hasegawa pounded out a victory to end what had been a humiliating day for Japan.

Valero defeated Honmo one minute 54 seconds into the eighth round for a technical knockout after a hard punch drew blood from close to the Japanese challenger's right eye, forcing the referee to stop the fight.

"I didn't care for a knockout victory. I would have been satisfied with a decision victory. I think I showed a different style of boxing today using my footwork. Honmo is a brave fighter," said Valero.

The 25-year-old Valero has now won 22 out of 22 bouts, all of them knockout victories, including a world record of 18 consecutive first-round wins.

His first-round streak ended in March last year when he needed two rounds to pull off a technical knockout in his 19th bout. In August 2006 he snatched the WBA title from Vicente Mosquera of Panama.

Former title-holder Alexander Munoz of Venezuela was the villain to Nashiro's second defence of the title as he pulled off a unanimous decision victory.

A Belgian judge counted it 118-109 and an American judge 117-111, while a Canadian judge scored it 117-112, all in favour of the Venezuelan.

It was a repeat performance for the 28-year-old Munoz, who won the title in March 2002 by beating another Japanese, Celes Kobayashi, with a technical knockout victory.

Munoz's overall record now stands at 30 wins, including 27 KOs, against two defeats.

Nashiro connected a left hook to stagger Munoz in the third round, but the Venezuelan fought back with an array of left jabs and right upper cuts and made it a lopsided affair after the seventh round, narrowly missing a knock down.

"I was sure of the victory in the sixth round when I was able to hit a strong right and left," said Munoz who has never lost to a Japanese fighter in five bouts.

"Kobayashi was the strongest among them all (Japanese). Nashiro is still too young and his skills are not enough to beat me," added the new champion.