Moreno Hangs On To WBA Title Against Monshipour In France

Former WBA super bantam champ Mahyar Monshipour dropped down to bantamweight to challenge reigning 118 pound WBA kingpin Anselmo Moreno at Parc des Expositions in Pointiers, France.

Local hero Monshipour took the fight to the champion in the early rounds but felt the sting of hard southpaw counters for his trouble as he couldn't corner the fleet-footed Panamanian.

Moreno began to hold his ground in the middle rounds and beat the challenger to the punch on many exchanges but Monshipour began to turn the tide as distance closed.

The stronger challenger took control by the eighth and forced Moreno onto the backfoot behind a two handed assault, fighting his best rounds of the bout.

But Monshipour's rally came to late and Moreno was declared the winner after 12 rounds, keeping his WBA bantam title by split decision, winning two of the cards, 116-112 and116-113 while Monshipour won the third 115-113.