LOS ANGELES (AP) — Bermane Stiverne stopped Chris Arreola in the sixth round Saturday night to claim the WBC heavyweight title vacated by Vitali Klitschko.
Stiverne (24-1-1, 21 KOs) dropped Arreola twice in the sixth, and the Haitian-born fighter was punishing Arreola again when referee Jack Reiss stopped the fight with 58 seconds left in the round.
The Klitschko brothers had held every major heavyweight title for the past six years. Vitali's retirement into Ukrainian politics in December opened the WBC belt for the 35-year-old Stiverne, a late bloomer who hasn't lost in 13 consecutive fights.
"I studied and studied," Stiverne said. "I watched my opponent. I knew I could knock him out. ... I was patient. The plan was to let him get comfortable, and he soon as he gets real comfortable, then crack him. And that's what I did."
Stiverne dropped Arreola (36-4) for the first time with a sweeping right hand to Arreola's left temple, sending Arreola wobbling and crashing to the canvas. Arreola rose and kept fighting, but Stiverne put him headfirst into the ropes moments later with another combination.
After Reiss stopped the fight, Stiverne wept with the WBC's green belt around his shoulder at the Galen Center on USC's downtown campus.
No comments:
Post a Comment