| BoxingTalk Story |
 |
By Scott Shaffer
01/06/2006
Cassius Baloyi TKO11 Manuel Medina... South Africa, a country that loves its boxing but sees its best fighters lose abroad becaus economics dictate unfavorable match-ups, has a new world champion as Cassius Baloyi traveled around the world to win the IBF 130-pound title by eleventh-round technical knockout. Fighting on the ESPN2 main event in Washington state, Baloyi knocked Manuel Medina down three times in the eleventh round to claim a title that had been vacated by Marco Antonio Barrera, who remains the true world champion in the weight class. Medina had captured four featherweight titles in his storied 21-year professional career that began at age 14 in his native Mexico, and was bidding for his first 130-pound title. Although the Mexican warrior was hurt in the eleventh, it was largely his legs that betrayed him. He drops to 66-15. It was a close fight for ten rounds, but Baloyi led on the scorecards at the time of the stoppage. Meanwhile, Baloyi, who was coming off a loss to Isaac Hlatshwayo at 135 pounds in his last fight, improves to 32-2 and combines the IBF belt with its IBO counterpart. Baloyi is trained by Nick Durandt, one of the top trainers in the world. source: ESPN2 Wednesday Night Fights
