SAN ANTONIO, Texas - Juan 'Baby Bull' Diaz retained the WBA lightweight title Thursday, remaining undefeated with a 12-round unanimous decision over former two-time champion Julien Lorcy.
Diaz made his first defence of the title he won from Mongolian toughman Lavka Sim in Houston on July 17.
Two judges scored it 118-110 while the third made it 119-109 for Diaz, who improved to 26-0 (12 KOs). Lorcy, 32, fell to 56-4-2 (41 KOs).
At 21, Diaz is the youngest active world champion, and as against Sim, he was up against a battle-hardened veteran.
Lorcy, who twice owned the WBA lightweight title - in 1999 and 2001 - refused to bow to Diaz's youthful pressure. Despite swelling around his right eye from round three on, the counter-punching Lorcy kept the rounds close.
"I was surprised," admitted Diaz. "I thought he was going to back up all night on me. He stayed in there.
"It just shows even though a guy's 32 years old, it doesn't mean they don't have nothing."
Diaz, who is a full-time student at the University of Houston, concentrated on the body and often was at his best late in rounds.
With his straight-ahead style, Diaz effectively used his jab for much of the night.
"My biggest key was my jab," Diaz said. "Lorcy is a tremendous fighter. That's why he's a two-time champ."
In a fight that featured plenty of action, Lorcy and Diaz each threw more than 100 punches in a frantic 12th round that had the crowd on its feet.
In the co-featured bout, junior featherweight contender Jorge Lacierva and local Texas fighter Armando Guerrero fought to a 10-round draw in a bout where Lacierva appeared to control the action in the majority of rounds with accurate punching.
Official score cards read 97-93 (for Guerrero), 96-94 (for Lacierva) and 95-95. Lacierva's record remains 26-5-5 (18 KOs), while Guerrero adds yet another draw to his record, 20-3-6 (11 KOs).
Kevin Atkins
California Correspondent
Information from other publications and wire services was used in the compilation of this report.
