Mexicali’s Manuel ‘Menny’ Jimenez, in only his ninth professional fight, crowned himself the World Boxing Federation strawweight champion, winning a split decision over brave Nicaraguan warrior Yader Escobar.
The 12-rounder, promoted by Mexican legend Erik Morales (himself on the comeback trail), at the Gimnasio Municipal featured hard action all the way. In round six, referee Juan José Rincon took Escobar to be examined by the doctor for a potentially dangerous cut, but the hugely more experienced co-challenger, coming in with an outstanding record of 23-2 and not having lost in his last 15 outings, was allowed to continue. Due to brilliant work of the Nicaraguan corner, the injury never became a factor again and Jimenez was forced to battle all the way to the final bell.
Judges Juan José Ramirez and Enrique Sotelo came up with identical scores of 117:111 for Jimenez, while Salomon Ojeda saw the fight for Escobar with a tally of 116:112. New WBFed world strawweight champion Manuel Jimenez is now 8-0-1 (2).
The event was a huge success, reports WBFed Representative Sergio Sotelo, and received an excellent positive feedback from the press and the fans alike.
