Angelo Leo's transpacific trip paid off Saturday.

Leo defeated Tomoki Kameda by majority decision to retain his IBF featherweight title at Yamato Arena in Kameda’s hometown of Osaka, Japan. Judges Gil Co (116-112) and Carl Zappia (115-113) scored their 12-round, 126-pound title fight for Leo and judge Richard Blouin scored it a draw, 114-114.

Leo (26-1, 12 KOs) made the first defense of an IBF belt he won when he knocked out Luis Alberto Lopez in the 10th round of their August 10 fight at Tingley Coliseum in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Leo’s hometown. The 33-year-old Kameda (42-5, 23 KOs) has lost two of his past four fights.

Leo came out boxing on the back foot, buoyed by frequently flicking one-two combinations to head and body while looking to impose his will at close-range.

Kameda, two years his senior, was unsuccessful in attempts to muddy Leo’s work up close and the pair were warned after an accidental clash of heads midway through the third.

The Osaka challenger seemed a half-step slow whipping hooks at the target, danger lingered as time wore on though he often narrowly missed Leo or had these aggressive advances partially blocked by the champion, who again finished the fourth stronger too.

Kameda landed a nice left inside the first half-minute of a fifth where both had success, the challenger countering well as Leo lunged forward before overeagerness saw the 33-year-old ticked off for rough-housing.

They exchanged power shots in the pocket and Kameda’s work downstairs was noticeable as they both were more economical with their output to avoid being countered clean.

21-year professional referee Ignatius Missailidis was kept busy by their physical exchanges, from minute one until the final bell, Kameda being allowed to find his rhythm before being lectured about leading with his head in the clinch.

Into the second-half they went, Leo conceivably five rounds ahead to this point and El Mexicanito needed some urgency in his work. Exchanging combos once more, Kameda was steadily finding more pockets of success.

Growing scrappy with a stop-start nature midway through the ninth, Kameda landed the round’s best work as they broke from a clinch and neither man wanted to concede position so swung big shots defiantly.

The challenger connected clean for sustained periods of the tenth, Leo being warned after straying low with a body shot to typify a frustrating round where he was finding himself lured into a firefight he didn’t need.

He responded as you’d expect a champion to, winning the penultimate stanza behind his sharp jab early and more responsible defensive work on the inside though both were warned for dirty boxing up close.

Kameda landed a brilliant right hand at the end of an assertive final round in his favour, though an inconsistency to maintain that approach while nullifying Leo's jab proved costly in a tactical chess match ultimately decided by the opening rounds.