Santo Domingo.- Elio Rojas, the Dominican Republic challenger (21-1, 13 KOs), boxed his way to the WBC featherweight throne by winning a unanimous decision over Japanese defending champ, southpaw Takahiro Aoh (17-2-1, 8 KOs), 126, over hard-fought twelve rounds on Tuesday in Tokyo, Japan.

Slick-punching Rojas, whose amateur mark was reportedly as excellent as 205-3, made a good start as he connected with light but busy combinations to the defending champ. After the first four rounds, the open scoring system showed: 39-37 twice and 40-36 in favor of the challenger.

The Dominican, 26, maintained the initiative by connecting with direct rights without left leads to the southpaw champ who had dethroned Mexican veteran Oscar Larios by a unanimous verdict this March. The judges tallied 116-113, 117-111 and 118-110 for Rojas.