Cuello falters in world title bid: Chinese fighter survives first round knockdown to keep WBC belt

CEBU, Philippines - Filipino boxer Denver Cuello faltered in his world title bid after losing by majority decision to Xiong Zhao Zhong of China, who retained his WBC minimumweight title on Friday night (early Saturday morning Phl time) at the World Trade Centre in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

In a report by boxingscene.com, Cuello got off to a fast start, sneaking in a powerful left hook that sent Xiong on the ground in the first round. The Chinese fighter, however, showed great recuperative powers and figured in an even  intense exchange of punches with the Filipino challenger the rest of the way.

Cuello's fighting skills was somehow impaired when he dislocated his right shoulder halfway through the scheduled 12-round match.

Compounding his woes, the 26-year-old Filipino suffered a cut on his right eyebrow caused by an accidental clash of heads in the ninth round. With an injured shoulder and blood dripping from his forehead, Cuello was never the same again.

When the smoke was cleared, the two judges scored the bout 115-112 and 113-110 for Xiong, while the third judge had it 113-113, thus, the majority verdict.

“It was a very tough, very close fight,” said Xiong, who is likely to face next IBO champion Hekkie Budler of South Africa in a unification bout.

Xiong now holds an improved 21-4-1 record spiked with 11KOs, while Cuello suffered his fifth loss in his 44 fights.

It was a heart-breaking defeat for Cuello, who was tipped to vanquish the much smaller Chinese champion. Before heading to war against Xiong, the Iloilo-native Cuello holds the WBC Silver minimumweight crown and was on a 12-fight winning streak only to fall short in the end. (FREEMAN)