MASHANTUCKET, CT -
Diego Corrales won a 12-round split decision over Cuban born Joel Casamayor on Saturday to take the World Boxing Organization super featherweight title.
Judges Don O'Neill and Julie Lederman scored it 115-113 for Corrales. Judge Steve Weisfeld scored it 114-113 for Casamayor.
After the opening round, in which Casamayor landed one good combination, Corrales controlled the rest of the bout with a jab and timely body shots.
Casamayor landed a left hand in round 10 that sent Corrales to the canvas. A dazed Corrales made it to his feet, survived another onslaught and finished the round. Corrales came back strong in Round 11, landing a strong right hand.
All three judges scored Round 11 for Corrales. Casamayor won the 12th round on two of the judges' cards.
"I jabbed well," said Corrales. "I told you I could box. At the end, I knew I had the fight won."
Casamayor disagreed.
"I definitely felt I won the fight," said Casamayor. "I did my job. I did exactly what I had to do and that was box. He never hurt me. He was chasing me and he wasn't doing anything."
Corrales improves to 38-2 (28 KOs), while Casamayor drops to 30-2 (19 KOs).
In the co-feature, Mark "Too Sharp" Johnson successfully defended his WBO junior bantamweight title with a fourth-round knockout of Colombian Luis Bolano .
Johnson, 43-3 (28 KOs) knocked down Bolano midway through Round 4, then put Bolano, 38-1 (28 KOs) out for good with a crushing left hook to the body at 2:40 of the fourth round.
"I knew I was going to get my distance," said Johnson. "Because he's a southpaw like me, I could go over his jab. He was a strong puncher, but not too fast."
It was the first title defense for Johnson, who won the WBO crown last August with a win by unanimous decision over Fernando Montiel.
Casamayor disagreed.