NEW YORK -- Undefeated John Duddy unanimously outpointed
Anthony Bonsante in a nine-round decision Friday night to retain
the IBA middleweight title and capture the vacant WBC Continental
Americas crown.
The scheduled 12-round bout at The Theatre at Madison Square
Garden was halted in the ninth because blood from a cut near
Bonsante's right eye -- caused by Duddy's accidental head butt in
the second round -- prevented him from seeing his opponent.
As a result, New York State Athletic Commission rules called for
the fight to be decided by the judges' cards at the time the bout
was stopped.
Duddy, from Ireland, improved to 19-0, while Bonsante, from
Shakopee, Minn., dropped to 29-9-3. Duddy weighed in at 159½ pounds, a half-pound more than Bonsante.
"Our heads clashed in the second round," the 23-year-old Duddy
said. "It was accidental all the way. I was a little bit rusty and
got sloppy. I saw that Tony was on his bicycle and then I made a
mistake by letting him hurt me a little bit. That was my fault. I
won't let it happen again. Still, I give myself a passing grade."
Bonsante explained: "The blood kept flowing into my eye and I
just couldn't see any longer."
"My plan was to take him to the later rounds, but it was not to
be," Bonsante said. "I must point out that Duddy was class all
the way. I knew all along it was accidental."
Also, middleweight Giovanni Lorenzo extended his undefeated
streak to 23 -- 15 by knockout -- by stopping Uganda's Robert Kamaya
at 2:38 of the third round of a scheduled 10-rounder. The 26-year
Lorenzo, a native of the Dominican Republic now fighting out of New
York, had three knockdowns, two in the third round.
Kamaya, 34, based in West Palm Beach, Fla., sustained a cut
about his left eye in the second round. A hard right to the head
sent him to the canvas in the third round, prompting referee Benjy
Esteves to halt the bout without a count.
Kamaya dropped to 15-7.
Both fighters weighed in at 160 pounds.