Boxing Result: Moreno Retains WBA Title Over Cermeno In Venezuela

As widely expected, WBA bantam champ Anselmo Moreno had a tough time holding onto his title last night but managed to do so in front of 5,000 spectators at Polideportivo Jose Maria Vargas in the Caracas suburb of La Guaira, Venezuela.

Facing the Panamanian champion Moreno was local upset specialist Nehomar Cermeno, who had roared into the Interim WBA titlist slot last year behind two shock wins against former top super flyweight Cristian Mijares and a KO of veteran Alejandro Valdez in Mexico.

The towering Moreno is no stranger to tough fights on the road and at just 24 years of age is vastly experienced with wins against Mahyar Monshipour and Frederic Patrac in France along with two wins over Wladimir Sidorenko in Germany, all in world title bouts.

Moreno needed all that seasoning against the rough and tumble 30 year old Cermeno, who had never lost as a professional during his six year career.

Cermeno started off strong, landing with authority to the head and body of the champion. Moreno came back in the fourth and picked off the oncoming challenger with impressive accuracy.

But Cermeno was back on the warpath in the sixth and swept the next two frames behind a withering body assault. Moreno regained control of the bout in the ninth and tenth rounds while Cermeno lost a point for low blows in the 11th stanza.

The final frame saw furious action as both fighters left it all in the ring. When the scorecards were read, Moreno retained the WBA crown by scores of 115-112, 114-113 and 112-115.

Moreno improves to 29-1-1 (10), while Cermeno now stands at 19-1 (11). Given the closeness of the bout, a rematch could be forthcoming.

The undercard saw the return of ex-WBA super feather and WBC feather champ Jorge Linares, 28-1 (18), who fought through a cut right eyebrow to floor veteran Francisco Lorenzo, 34-8 (15), in the seventh.

Linares showed good accuracy and composure although he was pressured relentlessly by Lorenzo, who lost by majority decision 97-94, 97-93 and 95-95.

Former super middle world title challenger Gusmyr Perdomo, 17-3 (11), returned from his loss to Mikkel Kessler last August by stopping Darmel Castillo, 10-12-2 (6), in the third at light heavyweight.