IN a closely-fought encounter Gary Russell Jr retained his WBC featherweight belt on a unanimous 12-round points decision over Tugstsogt Nyambayar at the PPL Centre in Allenstown, Pennsylvania, on Saturday night.
The scores were 118-110, 117-111 and 116-112.
The big punching Nyambayar (11-1; 9) fought in close through the first six rounds, which were difficult to score.
However, in the second half of the fight, Russell (31-1; 18) used his experience and fast combinations to win the rounds.
On the same card, Cuban Guillermo Rigondeaux (20-1; 13) dropped former WBA and IBF junior bantamweight champion Liborio Solis (30-6-1; 14) in the seventh round on his way to winning the WBA secondary bantamweight belt, on a 12-round split decision.
The scores were 116-111 and 115-112 for Rigondeaux and 115-112 for Solis.
Jaime Arboleda (16-1; 13) came back from a knockdown in the tenth round to win on a split decision over Jayson Velez (29-6-1; 21) in a WBA junior lightweight eliminator on the same card.
WBA flyweight champion Artem Dalakian (20-0; 14) also surprised his critics to win a 12-round unanimous points decision over the fancied Josber Perez (17-3; 15) on Saturday night at the Parkovy Convention Centre in Kiev, Ukraine. – supersport.com
