Margarito makes successful defence

Mexican Antonio Margarito made a successful fourth defence of his WBO welterweight belt after he stopped Argentinian fighter and number one contender Sebastian Lujan at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.

Margarito claimed victory in the 10th round by way of technical knockout after a serious injury to the challenger’s left ear caused American referee David Fields to stop the fight.

Doctor Eric Wurmser inspected Lujan at ringside and after seeing he was close to losing half of his ear, asked Fields to call it off and award the fight to Margarito.

“The ear cartilage was almost out,” Wurmser explained, “He couldn’t continue fighting because the injury could have gotten worse, both for his ear and due to the amount blood he was losing.”

Margarito was never really in trouble against the man from Rosario, Santa Fe, and once the champion got his jab going in round four, was content to keep Lujan at arms length as he went to work on him.

Lujan was taken to the Atlantic City Medical Centre to stitch his ear up after the fight and although Margarito was sympathetic towards his opponent’s plight, felt he had done more than enough to justify the win.

“I’m sorry for the injury he suffered but I think I had the fight under control and I was ahead on the three judges’ cards,” said the Tijuana boxer, who improved his career record to 31 wins and four losses, including 22 knockouts.