Japan's Miura batters Puerta to defend WBC crown
Tokyo (AFP) - Japan's Takashi Miura battered Mexican challenger Edgar Puerta into submission with a sixth-round technical knockout Saturday to successfully defend his World Boxing Council super featherweight title for the third time.
The 30-year-old overpowered the top-ranked challenge, sending him to the canvas in the first round before finishing Puerta off with a ferocious flurry of punches two minutes, 15 seconds into the sixth, a left-right to the body opening him up for a crunching left to the jaw which forced the referee to step in.
"It's a relief," a beaming Miura told reporters after dominating the fight in Yokohama. "He was a tough opponent. I'd like to have finished him off earlier but it doesn't always go to plan. I still have a few things I need to improve on. I wasn't completely happy."
The fight was part of a WBC doubleheader also featuring a flyweight title match between Nicaraguan champion Roman Gonzalez and Rocky Fuentes of the Philippines, who failed to live up to his hard-man name, also winding up the victim of a sixth-round TKO.
A devastating uppercut from Gonzalez sent the challenger sprawling to complete a successful first title defence for the South American in another one-sided bout.
