Charlo defends title by majority decision
LOS ANGELES — Jermell Charlo knocked down Austin Trout twice, and that proved to be the difference as Charlo defended his World Boxing Council super welterweight title with a majority decision at the Staples Center on Saturday night.
Charlo (31-0) won 118108 and 115-111 on two scorecards, while judge Fernando Villareal curiously had it 113-113. The AP gave it 117-109 to Charlo, who was booed heavily by the Los Angeles crowd despite his solid performance. The jeering continued while Charlo left the ring, and he exchanged insults with fans.
“I already knew Trout was going to come in and try to survive,” Charlo said. “Trout wasn’t going down like that. He’s a veteran. He’s a real fighter, but I don’t know what the judges were looking at. I won that fight.”
Charlo knocked down Trout (31-5) in the third with a sharp combination while Trout’s legs were splayed. Trout still put on a resourceful performance despite Charlo’s apparent advantages in hand speed and athleticism, attempting to outbox Charlo from the outside and slickly avoiding most power exchanges.
Charlo was credited with another knockdown when Trout went to a knee just 10 seconds into the ninth round after a punch from Charlo flew wildly over his head.
Trout, the former WBA 154-pound champ with a victory over Miguel Cotto on his résumé, went the distance with Charlo’s twin brother, Jermall, in 2016, also losing a decision.
In the co-main event, Leo Santa Cruz beat Abner Mares in an entertaining unanimous decision for the second time to defend his World Boxing Association featherweight title.
Santa Cruz (35-1-1) matched Mares’ fierce pace and rallied from an unsteady start to win the rematch of his 2015 bout with Mares (31-3-1), his fellow Southern Californian.
Odds and ends
Terence Crawford threw a bevy of punches toward the end of the ninth round to stop Jeff Horn and win the World Boxing Organization welterweight title at Las Vegas. After dropping Horn with 50 seconds left in the ninth round, Crawford (33-0, 24 knockouts) unleashed a slew of punches that sent the former champion into the ropes, prompting referee Robert Byrd to stop the fight with 28 seconds left in the round. The 30-yearold Horn (18-1-1, 12 knockouts) struggled to make weight one day before the bout, hitting 148 pounds on his first try at the weigh-in Friday. He originally won the belt by decision from Manny Pacquiao last July in his hometown of Brisbane, Australia. He fought once since, stopping Gary Corcoran in Brisbane in December to retain his title. … Tyson Fury clowned his way through his first fight in more than 2½ years and still outclassed Sefer Seferi, who retired after four farcical rounds in Manchester, England. Fighting for the first time since claiming the world heavyweight title from Wladimir Klitschko in November 2015, the much heavier and taller Fury (26-0, 19 KOs) showed he could end the fight whenever he wished.