Aptil 30, 2005

Mahyar Monshipour retained his World Boxing Association super bantamweight title on Friday with a sixth-round win over Shigeru Nakazato.

With 24 seconds left in the sixth, Monshipour knocked down Nakazato with a right cross to the chin, causing referee Raul Caiz to stop the fight.

Monshipour, born in the city of Bam in Iran but a French citizen since 2001, made his fourth successful defense since he won the 55-kilogram (122-pound) crown in July 2003, improving his record to 27-2-2.

Both fighters traded blows in a frenetic opening round, with Monshipour landing the cleaner shots.

Nakazato was sent to the ropes at the end of the fourth round when Monshipour landed a flurry of punches. But the Japanese kept coming back and landed several big hits on the Frenchman, whose face was bloodied over the right eye. >>> Monshipour.com

Sent by Darius Kadivar

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