WBO bantamweight world champion Christian Medina controls local rival Adrian Curiel over twelve rounds and celebrates a successful title defense in Mexico.
Christian Medina has successfully completed his first title defense. The WBO bantamweight world champion won an all-Mexican duel against Adrian Curiel on Sunday night by unanimous decision on points. The fight took place at the Domo Alcalde in Guadalajara, Mexico, and was promoted by Matchroom.
The judges scored the twelve-round fight differently, but clearly in favor of the champion: 120-108, 116-112 and 115-113 were the scorecards for Medina (27-4, 19 knockouts). For Curiel (26-7-1, 5 knockouts), the defeat marked the end of a short winning streak of two victories. It was also only his second appearance at bantamweight, having held the IBF world semi-flyweight title two years ago.
Medina controlled the majority of the fight and dictated the pace for long stretches. He repeatedly set the tone with hard left hooks to the body and attacking rights to the head. Both boxers looked to move forward, but Medina’s physical advantages ultimately made the difference.
The title holder took command in the first three rounds. Time and again, he hit the left hook to the body and combined it with the right to the head. Curiel worked solidly out of the double guard behind his jab, but was hardly able to finish it off with effective power punches. It was not until round four that Curiel landed a noteworthy right to the head, but Medina also won this round.
A more even exchange of blows developed in rounds five to seven. Both fighters often stood man-to-man, covered each other and mainly traded uppercuts in the infight. Curiel had his best moment in round eight with a clean right to the chin, but Medina countered impressively. In round nine, he pushed his compatriot to the ropes with a hard right hand and once again established the hierarchy.
In the last three rounds, Medina looked completely confident in the pocket. He remained calm, varied his attacks and continued to score reliably with left hooks to the body. In the end, it was a deserved points victory and a convincing first title defense for the WBO world champion.