CORRECTS POSITION OF THOMAS AND SUDO- New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio watches hot dog eating contestants Sonya Thomas, left, and Miki Sudo, right, during a news conference to promote the upcoming Nathan's... (Associated Press) 
 
 NEW YORK (AP) — The Black Widow has been outeaten. 
 
 Three-time defending champion Sonya Thomas lost her hot dog eating title Friday to 28-year-old Miki Sudo of Las Vegas, who wolfed down 34 franks and buns in 10 minutes to win the women's division of the annual Nathan's Famous Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest at Coney Island. 
 
 The 47-year-old Thomas, a native of South Korea who now lives in Alexandria, Virginia, was only able to devour 27 3/4 hot dogs and buns. She scarfed down a record 45 dogs and buns last year. 
 
 The men's division will be held later Friday. 
 
 Joey Chestnut, a 30-year-old San Jose, California, man nicknamed Jaws, hopes to put away his competition by downing a record 70 hot dogs in 10 minutes in the raucous event held just steps from the beach. Last year, Chestnut won with 69 franks and buns. Matt Stonie, who was second in 2013 with 51 dogs, returns for another run at the top spot. 
 
 With Chestnut's seventh-straight victory last year, he bested his former rival, Takeru Kobayashi, with most consecutive wins. In 2010, Kobayashi refused to sign an exclusive contract with Major League Eating, the food equivalent of the NFL, and was banned from competition. 
 
 This year, the Japanese native nicknamed the Tsunami will compete against five other competitive eaters at a separate event on Fifth Avenue in a quest to down the most hot dogs without buns in 10 minutes. 
 
 Coney Island's top four competitors weighed in Thursday at a pre-contest event presided over by Mayor Bill de Blasio. 
 
 All the competitors said they were fasting, but Irish contestant Colin Shirlow grabbed a free hot dog during the weigh-in to get a first taste of the Nathan's Famous dogs they'll be gobbling down. ||||| Joey Chestnut continued his reign as the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest champion on Friday, eating 61 hot dogs to take his eighth belt. 
 
 The win was one of the closer ones for Chestnut, who battled Matt Stonie throughout the competition. Chestnut jumped out to an early lead, with Stonie and Tim Janus trailing behind for the first few minutes. 
 
 Stonie took the lead with about six minutes remaining and the two battled and traded the lead for the next five minutes. With 1:13 left, the two were tied at 53 hot dogs apiece. But Chestnut retook the lead, going up 57-54 with 47 seconds to go and didn’t relinquish it for the rest of the contest. Stonie finished with 56 hot dogs. 
 
 “I could never find my rhythm so it was just a dogfight the whole time,” Chestnut said. 
 
 The win came about 90 minutes after the competitive eating champion proposed to his longtime girlfriend Neslie Ricasa on stage. She said yes. 
 
 Joey Chestnut proposes to girlfriend before hot dog eating contest pic.twitter.com/EBlSaZHwAE — Eyewitness News (@ABC7NY) July 4, 2014 
 
 Slightly rainy conditions made it more difficult for competitors including Chestnut, who fell short of his 69 hot dogs consumed in 2013. 
 
 On the women’s side, three-time champion Sonya Thomas was upset by Miki Sudo.
– What Joey Chestnut went into today hoping: That he'd be able to scarf down a record 70 hot dogs in 10 minutes, and that Neslie Ricasa would say yes. Though the seven-time champ did manage to notch win No. 8 at the annual Nathan's Famous Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest at Coney Island today, he didn't hit his mark. USA Today reports Chestnut ate 61 hot dogs in 10 minutes, down from his previous high of 69. And it was neck-and-neck for much of the way, with Matt Stonie taking the lead about four minutes in. They swapped in and out of the top spot until 1:13 remained, at which point they were tied at 53; Stonie only managed to get three more dogs in, to Chestnut's eight. But 90 minutes before Chestnut's feat, he was down on one knee proposing to his longtime girlfriend, who said yes. AP asks the million-dollar question: Will they serve hot dogs at the wedding? On the women's side, good fortune didn't smile on the Black Widow today. Three-time defending champion Sonya Thomas lost her hot dog-eating title to 28-year-old Miki Sudo of Las Vegas, who wolfed down 34 franks and buns in 10 minutes to Thomas' 27 3/4 hot dogs and buns. It's a big fall from how Thomas performed last year, when she downed a record 45 dogs and buns, reports the AP.