HOLLYWOOD, FL - Dale Brown of Calgary won the NABF's vacant cruiserweight title with a split decision over former WBA champion Robert Daniels, who announced his retirement after the fight Tuesday night in Hollywood, Florida.
A cut to the side of his left eye in the third round didn't faze Brown. The cut quickly closed, and Brown began landing lead left jabs and combinations to the head.
Daniels, of Miami, tried to keep the fight at short range but his lead punches were not followed with sufficient combinations. Brown also was effective countering Daniels with blows to the head.
In the final round, Daniels, 45-7-1 (37 KOs), connected with his best combination of the night when he briefly stunned Brown, 30-2-1 (19 KOs), with a right uppercut and left to the head.
Judges Julie Lederman and Chrystal Wright had Brown winning 117-111 and 116-112, while John Rupper scored 116-112 it for Daniels.
There were no knockdowns.
Daniels won the WBA cruiserweight title in 1989 with a decision over Dwight Quawi. After two successful defences, Daniels lost his crown to Bobby Czyz in 1991.
Daniels weighed the NABF cruiserweight limit of 200 pounds. Brown was 196.
In the night's co-feature, Kendrick Releford upset Cuban favorite Ramon Garbey via a ten round unanimous decision. After being outboxed by Garbey in the first two rounds, Releford controlled the fight with his jab and quicker hands, hurting Garbey on occasion with uppercuts.
Garbey drops to 17-4 (13 KOs), while Releford improves to 10-4-1 (5KOs).
The best fight of the night was between Colombia's Juan Urango and Russian Sergey Sorokin, in a battle of unbeaten junior welterweights. After six rounds, it was Urango winning the fight with a unanimous decision.
The southpaw Urango set the pace from the outset, dominating the Russian, causing his right eye to swell in round one. In round three he decked Sorokin with a three-punch combination, and the bout seemed to be on the verge of being stopped.
Sorokin remained tough, and landed some hard shots on several occasions, that seemed to stagger Urango. The sixth round was featured intense action, as both fighters traded power shots, with Urango getting the best of it.
Urango remains undefeated at 13-0 (10 KOs); Sorokin drop his first of his career, now standing at 15-1-1 (10 KOs).
