Thurman halts Diaz, Matthysse outguns Molina, Figueroa decisions Belmontes
WBA interim welterweight champion Keith Thurman (23-0, 21 KO’s) stopped former IBF lightweight champion Julio Diaz (40-10-1, 29 KO’s) in a 3rd round stoppage on Saturday night at the StubHub Center, in Carson, California, USA.
Diaz was knocked down in the 2nd round from a short left hook to the head. In the 3rd round, Thurman hit Diaz with a hard right to the body but Diaz rallied back and started clipping him with shots. However, in between the 3rd and the 4th rounds, Diaz’s corner decided to halt the fight due to a rib injury that he had suffered in the 3rd.
Also on the card, in a fight of the year candidate, Lucas Matthysse (35-3, 33 KO’s) showed incredible heart to get up off the deck twice to stop the game John Molina (27-4, 22 KO’s) in the 11th. Molina dropped Matthysse with right hands in the 2nd and 5th rounds. Matthysse knocked Molina down three times in the fight in dropping him in the 8th, 10th and 11th rounds.
The fight was halted at the start of the 11th after Matthysse cornered a badly beaten Molina up against the ropes and flurried on him until he hit the canvas. The referee Pat Russell then stepped in and halted the bout with Molina still down on his back.
WBC lightweight champion Omar Figueroa (23-0-1, 17 KO’s) defeated challenger Jerry Belmontes (19-4, 5 KO’s) by a 12 round split decision. The judges scored it 118-110, 116-112 for Figueroa and 115-113 for Belmontes.
It was a disappointing fight, Belmontes gave the fight away by running from round 6 onwards and Figueroa did a poor job of cutting off the ring.
The crowd booed nonstop from rounds 6 through 12, and neither fighter did much to stop them from booing.