Morgan defends title

Bowyn Morgan has easily defended his WBU Welterweight World Championship belt after his opponent ‘‘bent pretty quickly’’.

Morgan, the No. 2 in New Zealand’s pound-for-pound rankings behind Joseph Parker, earned a second-round TKO victory in Christchurch on Saturday evening against Filipino Nelson Tinampay. Morgan, who advanced his record to 21-1, dropped Tinampay in the opening round with a left hand after some powerful body shots.

When he was dropped again in the second, Tinampay beat the count but refused to answer or walk towards referee Kevin Pyne who had no choice but to wave the bout off. Morgan’s trainer and the event promoter Phil Shatford was happy with the performance of his fighter but was disappointed there wasn’t more of a challenge from Tinampay.

‘‘The opponent came here with a reputation of being as tough as nails but when Bowyn hit him he bent pretty quickly,’’ Shatford told Stuff.

‘‘When he got up we thought we had a fight on our hands but he didn’t want to fight.’’

With Tinampay effectively quitting, Shatford said ‘‘it wasn’t the finish we wanted’’ for the crowd at the Christchurch Boys High School auditorium.

‘‘But in saying that when Bowyn switched to southpaw and hit him with that perfectly timed left hook ... not many guys would come back from that,’’ Shatford said. Morgan, who won the title back in May with a TKO victory over Jack Asis, expressed his disappointment he wasn’t challenged more after spending several months in camp.