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Humberto “Zorrita” Soto proved
he is still on top of his game,
as he won the World Boxing
Federation World Welterweight
title on Saturday night,
November 10, at the Estadio
Morelos in Ecatepec, Mexico by
dethroning reigning champion
Jose “Piston” Lopez by unanimous
decision.
Soto, a former world champion at
Featherweight, Super
Featherweight and Lightweight,
got the hard-fought victory by
scores of 115-112, 115-11 and
114-112, and improved his
already impressive record to
59-8-2(34). Lopez, only 21 years
old and with plenty of time to
regroup and come back, is now
17-3-1 (10).
The first half of the fight
belonged to Soto, but Lopez was
always present and made the
veteran work hard. In the second
half, Lopez had more success but
Soto continued to display his
formidable movement and
combinations to win some rounds.
The new world champion showed
superior technique throughout
the fast-paced twelve rounds,
while Lopez boxed with great
determination and at times
proved too eager, or frustrated,
by landing several low blows on
Soto. Referee Juan Jose Ramirez
deducted two points from the
score of Lopez, but in the end
it didn’t affect the outcome.
Also on the card, Jessica Chavez
won the World Boxing Federation
Interim Women’s World Light
Flyweight title with a unanimous
decision over Thailand’s
Kanittha Kokietgym. All three
judges scored it a shutout
100-90 for Chavez, who is now
16-3-2 (4). Kokietgym drops to
17-5 (6).
The show was promoted by
Promociones Del Pueblo, and
televised live in Mexico by
Televisa.
Also on Saturday night, but
thousands of miles away in
Vienne, France, Togo-born Daniel
Kodjo Sassou captured the vacant
WBF International Super
Featherweight title with a
unanimous decision over
Bulgarian Yordan Vasilev.
Sassou boxed well throughout the
ten rounds at the Salle
Omnisports, and Vasilev rarely
got to land anything of
significance. In the end there
was no doubt about the outcome,
and the fans of the Frenchman
could celebrate their new
champion who improved his ledger
to 32-20-4 (9). |
