American boxer Devin Haney defeated former three-weight champion Venezuela's Jorge Linares in a unanimous decision to defend the WBC world lightweight title on Saturday.
Haney won 116-112, 116-112, 115-113 on the judges’ scorecards.
The 22-year-old Haney dominated the first seven rounds and weathered a late surge by Linares, who staggered the 135-pound champion at the end of the 10th round in the 12-round bout.
"It was a good shot, I was never hurt,” Haney said.
Haney (26-0) spent much of the final three rounds ducking under Linares’ arms, hugging and stalling the action.
Linares (47-6), the only person to put Vasyl Lomachenko on his back, survived an early onslaught by Haney, who used strong combinations to the head and body.
Haney looked as if he was going to drop Linares in the sixth round. He landed an overhand right and subsequent punches that caused Linares’ right eye to swell.
In the co-featured event, champion Chantelle Cameron (14-0), of Great Britain, defended her WBC world super-lightweight title with TKO of Miami’s Melissa Hernandez (23-8), in a bout stopped at 1:38 of the fifth round.
On the undercard, Ireland’s Jason Quigley (19-1) defeated Shane Mosley Jr. (17-5) by majority decision (97-93, 96-94, 95-95) to claim the vacant WBO middleweight title.
South Africa’s Azinga Fuzile (15-1) defeated Great Britain’s Martin J. Ward (24-2) with a seventh-round TKO in a final eliminator for the IBF world super featherweight title.
