AFP
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — American Kelly Pavlik stopped Miguel Espino in the fifth round of their World Boxing Council middleweight fight on Saturday.
Pavlik, 27, floored Espino three times including twice in the fourth round. He sent Espino to the canvas again in the fifth and that's when the challenger's corner threw in the towel.
Pavlik (36-1, 32 KOs) traded punches with Espino from the opening bell in an entertaining fight that was stopped by referee Steve Smoger at 1:44 of the fifth.
Espino (20-3-1) is the third ranked contender behind Pavlik. He was deducted a point after round one for throwing a late punch.
The win was a confidence boost for Pavlik who recently took 10 months off to recover from an infected hand.
Pavlik suffered his only loss 14 months ago when he stepped up in weight to face Bernard Hopkins and dropped a unanimous 12-round decision.
Pavlik defended his title last February by beating Mexico's Marco Antonio Rubio, but needed this win to prove himself once again.
Copyright © 2009 AFP. All rights reserved.
Source: Google News
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