Chinese Xiong Chaozhong beat Japanese Hiroya Yamamoto to win the World Boxing Council (WBC) international minimumweight championship in his hometown of Wenshan on Sunday.

The 32-year-old Xiong, the first professional boxing champion from China as he beat Javier Martinez Resendiz of Mexico in Kunming for the vacant WBC minimumweight title on Nov. 24, 2012, outpointed the Japanese in the 10-round bout.

Xiong was aggressive from the start, perhaps buoyed by the enthusiastic home crowd, while the 23-year-old Japanese was struggling in the first four rounds.

Yamamoto woke up in the fifth round and fought evenly for two rounds until he looked jaded and overwhelmed since Round 7.

Xiong improved his record to 25 wins including 14 KOs, six losses and one draw.

The Yunnan native lost his WBC title to Mexican Oswaldo Novoa on Feb. 5, 2014 and then lost the International Boxing Organization (IBO) and WBA title fight against South Africa's Hekkie Budler on Oct. 25 the same year.

Xiong, referred to as "Little Tyson", grew up in Wenshan Zhuang and Miao Autonomous Prefecture in southeast China's Yunnan province and worked in a coal mine. He took up boxing at the relatively late age of 22.

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