Boxing News Boxing News
WBC featherweight king Jhonny Gonzalez retained his title for the fourth time by turning back former champion Elio Rojas on Saturday night at Grand Oasis Resort in Cancun, Mexico.
Gonzalez went into the clash sporting a string of knockout victories but Rojas proved to be capable of handling the power shots of the champion, providing Gonzalez with his stiffest title challenge to date.
The challenger looked to be controlling the action by the third round until Gonzalez changed tactics and began to box, reasserting his authority by the fight’s midway point.
Gonzalez cemented his hold on the bout in the tenth when he floored Rojas with a body shot but that just spurred the challenger to give his best effort in the final round.
But it wasn’t enough as Gonzalez won a unanimous decision on scores of 117-111, 116-111 and 116-112, improving to 52-7 (45) while Rojas now stands at 23-2 (14).
IBF super feather boss Juan Carlos Salgado was also in action at Cancun but was pushed very hard in his title defense against veteran Martin Honorio.
Things went Salgado’s way early on as he dropped Honorio in both the second and third rounds but the challenger came back strong, cutting Salgado and putting unrelenting pressure on the champ.
The longer the contest went on the better Honorio became but in the end, he couldn’t eclipse Salgado’s early successes as a 114-112, 114-112, 113-113 majority decision went Salgado’s way.
Salgado retains his crown for the first time, moving his record to 25-1-1 (16), while Honorio, now 0-2 in world title bouts, stands at 32-7-1 (16).
