BOXING : Nunn Leaves Little Doubt in Stopping Cordoba

WBA super middleweight champion Michael Nunn said any doubt about his right to the title should be erased by his unanimous 12-round decision over former champion Victor Cordoba Saturday night.

“I beat Victor Cordoba in every round, I thought. I didn’t want nothing close,” Nunn said.

Nunn (39-1, 25 knockouts) floored Cordoba twice in the second round and had him pinned against the ropes under a flurry of punches when the round ended.

Cordoba (18-5-2, 14 knockouts) drew boos throughout the fight because of low punches and was penalized by referee Ernesto Magana of Mexico in the first, fifth and 11th rounds.

“Michael Nunn is very fast, so the low blows just happened,” Cordoba said. “I want to apologize to everyone.”

Nunn took the title from Cordoba in September on a 2-1 decision.

Cordoba, who knocked Nunn down in the 10th round of that 12-rounder, complained about the decision, and the WBA ordered an immediate rematch.

Nunn said he left no doubt this time. “I wanted to show Victor Cordoba that I was the better man, and I think I proved that,” Nunn said.

Judge Guy Jutras of Canada scored the fight 115-107, judge Roberto Ramirez of Puerto Rico scored it 117-106 and judge Justo Vasquez of Spain put it 120-106.

Nunn, 29, of Davenport, Iowa, moved up to the 168-pound class after losing his IBF middleweight title to James Toney in 1991. Toney stopped Nunn with a right hand in the 10th round of that fight.

Cordoba, 30, of Panama won the super middleweight title by stopping Chris Tiozzo in the ninth round of a 1991 fight in France.

The Nunn-Cordoba fight topped a six-bout card at The Pyramid, a new riverfront arena in Memphis.

Oliver McCall, 228, Chicago, stopped Mike Dixon, 226, Atlanta, 2nd; Greg Page, 230, Las Vegas, stopped Dan Murphy, 216, Omaha, Neb., 3rd; Kostya Tszyu, 138, Russia, stopped Steve Larimore, 140, Bahamas, 2nd; Frankie Randall, 145, Morristown, Tenn., stopped Edwin Rosario, 147, Puerto Rico in the 7th.