ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — Undefeated former WBA champion Yuriorkis Gamboa defeated Daniel Ponce de Leon of Mexico with a technical decision in a match between hard-punching featherweights.
The fight was stopped in the eighth by the ringside doctor after an accidental head butt caused bleeding on De Leon’s forehead. By state law, the fight went to the judges’ scorecards and all three had Gamboa ahead, 80-72 by two judges and 79-73 by another.
Gamboa (21-0, 16 KOs), a Cuban defector, was fighting for the first time since being stripped of his title for failing to make weight prior to his title bout against Jorge Solis last March.
De Leon (41-4, 34 KOs), the former WBO junior flyweight champ, suffered his second straight defeat.
