Undefeated Filipino puncher Kenneth Llover made a rousing introduction on Japanese soil on Sunday by knocking out Tulio Dekanatudo of Japan in the very first round of their interim Orient-Pacific Boxing Federation (OPBF) bantamweight championship in Osaka.

Referee Nobuto Ikehara was forced to call a halt to the clash in less than a minute — 59 seconds to be exact — as the Japanese remained on spaghetti legs despite getting up.

What did the trick was a two-punch combo from Lloverm who struck with a left straight and a right hook near the neutral corner.

Two-division world champion Gerry Peñalosa, who handles the 21-year-old Llover, told DAILY TRIBUNE that by next month, the Cavite-based fighter might be installed as the regular OPBF champion if the reigning titleholder fails to make a defense of the title.

Still, Peñalosa was delighted by Llover’s awesome showing, a vast improvement from the string of heartbreaking defeats suffered by Filipinos at the hands of Japanese the last 18 months.

“His killer instinct is unbelievable. Once he felt that he had hurt the Japanese, he didn’t let up,” Peñalosa, who was at ringside, said.

“I kind of felt that he wanted to kill the guy,” Peñalosa, added, joking.

The victory raised Llover’s mark to 13-0 with eight knockouts.