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| April 27, 2003 | Sunday | Safar 24, 1424 |
Larios retains crown
TOKYO, April 26: Oscar Larios fought through the pain of a broken jaw to retain his World Boxing Council super bantamweight title with a gritty unanimous points victory over Japan’s Shigeru Nakazato.
“It aches,” were the only words the 26-year-old Mexican champion could muster after the victory.
Two of the three judges, Malcolm Bulner of Australia and American Tony Castellano, scored it 116-110, while another American Gail Van Hoy scored it 114-111 in favour of the champion.
Larios pushed forward to dictate the bout in the first half, putting Nakazato on the canvas in the fifth round and winning the first five rounds.
Nakazato, ranked fifth in the WBC, fought back from the following round, firing an array of signature left hooks, cornering the champion on the ropes and staggering him several times afterwards.
In the eighth round, Nakazato upped the tempo, connecting numerous shots when Larios stopped thinking that the bell had rang.
Nakazato unleashed a powerful punch to break the Mexican’s jaw in the ninth round and then went on to take the last two rounds, but it was not enough to outpoint the champion.
It was a third defence of the title for Larios, who came to Tokyo in August last year as the “interim champion” to beat Japan’s Manabu Fukushima by a technical knockout.
Larios stretched his record to 48 wins, including 33 KOs, against three defeats and a draw.
Nakazato, 30 saw his record go to 23 wins, including 18 KOs, against six defeats.—AFP
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