The little lady packs a big punch.

Cai Zongju of Jinan, Shandong province, defended her World Boxing Council international minimumweight (105 lbs) crown by slugging her way to a 10-round majority decision over Japan's Mari Ando in front of a full house at Yageer Gymnasium in Ningbo on Friday night.

The judges scored it 97-93, 98-92 and 95-95.

In the co-main event, Xiong Chaozhong, who became China's first professional world champion in 2012 and held the WBC strawweight title for 15 months, defended his WBC international crown with a lopsided 10-round nod over Crison Omayao of the Philippines.

It was the first title defense for the 23-year-old Cai, who improved to 6-1 since turning pro 13 months ago. She won the vacant WBC and Asian Boxing Council continental crowns with a 10-round victory over Filipino Gretchen Abaniel in February.

Cai made smart use of crisp combinations behind a sharp jab to keep the more experienced Ando (12-8) off balance, punctuating her combos with punishing overhand rights that consistently found her shorter opponent's head and face.

Though there were no knockdowns, Ardo, who held the WBC world championship for five months last year, was twice staggered by crushing hooks. She never managed to establish her punching rhythm and spent most of the fight backing up.

On the few occasions the challenger was able to get inside, Cai's superior reach and fleet feet kept damage to a minimum.

Xiong, the 32-year-old former coal miner from Kunming, Yunnan province, improved to 26-6-1 and also added the vacant Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation crown to his collection by using furious volume punching to batter the taller Omayo (17-10-3) against the ropes.

Over the last four rounds Xiong landed three shots for every blow his opponent managed to connect, and Omayo was barely hanging on at the final bell. The scores were 99-91, 98-92 and 97-93.

In the third title bout on the card, Xu Chan of Kunming barely broke a sweat in beating Thailand's Chaiyong Sithsaithong over 10 rounds to claim the vacant WBA Oceania super featherweight belt.

Xu, who won the WBA Oceania super lightweight title with a decision over Australia's previously unbeaten Kris George in June, improved to 7-2 in dominating Sithsaithong by scores of 100-90, 99-91 and 97-93.

murraygreig@chinadaily.com.cn