Vargas battles through cuts to retain WBC title

New York: Mexico’s Rey Vargas retained his World Boxing Council title with a unanimous decision over Azat Hovhannisyan in a bloody showdown between a pair of super bantamweight fighters on Saturday night. Vargas made his third straight successful defense of the title despite finishing the 12-round fight with blood streaming down both sides of his face, the result of headbutts in the eighth and 12th rounds.

Vargas, who is now a perfect 32-0 in his career, won on all three judges’ scorecards including one who had it 118-110. The other two scored it 117-11 and 116-112. He fought the final four rounds with blood flowing freely but the cuts above his eyes did not seem to affect his vision that much.