WORCESTER, MA - Jean-Marc Mormeck seized the WBC belt and retained his WBA crown with a victory over Wayne Braithwaite in a world title cruiserweight fight.
Mormeck became first Frenchman to unify a world boxing title after winning the bout on points, 114-112, 115-111, 116-110.
"Two years ago I came to America and I'm now the unified champion," Mormeck said. "Months and months I've been working hard to accomplish this. I can improve more."
It was just the second fight in the US for Mormeck, 31-2 (21 KOs). This was also the first defence of the WBA title he won in May by unanimous decision over four-time world champion Virgil Hill.
Braithwaite started strong but Mormeck used his bigger size to his advantage knocking 29-year-old Braithwaite down with a right hand in the seventh round.
Mormeck opened up a cut over Braithwaite's left eye in the eighth and continued to pound him in the ninth. Mormeck had enough left in the final round to connect with some more hard blows.
A native of Guyana, the previously unbeaten Braithwaite, 21-1 (17 KOs) had not been seriously challenged in his seven-year career.
His 12-round unanimous decision over Luis Azille nearly one year ago marked the first time he had been taken past the 10th round. So coming into the bout, Braithwaite was confident but was caught off-guard by Mormeck's power.
"I was surprised by his strength," Braithwaite said. "He was way stronger than me. He fought a good fight and I respect him."
Mormeck punched to the head the majority of the fight and weathered Braithwaite's attempts to go to the body.
After the knockdown, Braithwaite was reduced to clutching and suffered a one-point deduction from referee Dick Flaherty in the eighth round.
After the delay for the deduction, Mormeck delivered one of his final big blows with another immediate right.
As the ninth round started Mormeck was clearly back in control once again.
The champion coasted over the final four rounds as Braithwaite, clearly needing a knockout, was unable to mount any charge while bleeding from above his left eye.
"Maybe he had no choice but to fight me. It was just a question of effort," Mormeck said.
Despite the setback, Braithwaite has an eye on the future.
"He wasn't really hurting me," he said. "I give him respect, he beat me. But I will be champion again. I'm disappointed but all great champs come back from a loss. I can rebound."
Many of the 8,567 filed out after the last fight on the undercard, when local favourite Jose Antonio Rivera lost his WBA welterweight belt to Luis Collazo in a split decision. Among those who remained, some saluted Mormeck with cries of "Allez, Jean-Marc!"
Karl Foster
East Coast Correspondent
Information from other publications and wire services was used in the compilation of this report.
