RENE Mark Cuarto retained his IBF mini-flyweight title with a technical majority decision against former champion Pedro Taduran in their rematch on Sunday night at the Digos City gymnasium in Davao.
The action-packed fight was stopped in the seventh round after Taduran suffered a deep cut in the forehead that was caused by an accidental head butt in the previous round.
Unfit to continue
Following a check with the ringside doctor, the 25-year-old challenger was declared unfit to continue with the fight, prompting officials to go to the scorecards.
Cuarto won in the scorecards of the two judges, 66-64 and 65-64, while the third one had the bout even at 65-65.
The reigning champion improved to a 20-2-2 record with 11 KOs as he retained his 105-pound belt right in his first title defense against the same fighter he dethroned also in February of last year.
It was another heartbreaker for Taduran, who lost by unanimous decision against Cuarto last year, and saw his record fall at 14-4 including 11 KOs.
Cuarto set the pace of the rematch by knocking down Taduran in the second round, only for the challenger to even things out when the champion was deducted two points for an intentional head butt in the third round.
Just when Taduran was gaining ground, Cuarto sent him down for the second time in the canvas during the sixth round, at which time the former title holder suffered the deept cut on his forehead that grew bigger as the fight went on.
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