Moorer, Akinwande Win Despite Injuries

Mike Tyson wasn’t the only heavyweight champion struggling Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

Both Michael Moorer and Henry Akinwande won their respective title defenses, but Moorer had to do so with a jaw injury and Henry Akinwande with knee problems.

Trainer Teddy Atlas has used all sorts of motivational tools to inspire his fighters.

With Moorer, the International Boxing Federation heavyweight champion, unable to put away challenger Francois Botha, Atlas tried a new tactic after the seventh round.

He went to referee Mills Lane to tell him that Moorer didn’t want to fight.

Atlas didn’t really want Lane to stop the fight. He wanted Moorer to get started, to fight through the injury.

Ultimately, Atlas got the desired result when Moorer (38-1, 31 knockouts) knocked Botha down twice in the 11th round and stopped him 18 seconds into the 12th to deal Botha (36-1, 21 knockouts) his first defeat.

“I’ve probably got a broken jaw,” Moorer said. “I was taking those shots. It was a tough fight.”

Medical tests after the fight revealed that Moorer’s jaw was not broken.

Akinwande (31-0-1, 19 knockouts), the World Boxing Organization champion, had problems against challenger Alexander Zolkin after re-injuring his knee in the third round.

He finally won when the bout was stopped 2:32 into the 10th because of a deep cut over the right eye of Zolkin (24-3, 15 knockouts).

Zolkin was staggered by an Akinwande right hand in the first round, went to the canvas after a quick right in the fourth and was bleeding in the latter stages of the match from the cut over the right eye, along with cuts on the forehead and the bridge of his nose.

Akinwande said he originally hurt the knee three weeks ago.

Although there was blood streaming down his face, Zolkin felt he could have continued.

“I could see very well,” Zolkin said, “but the doctor [Flip Homansky] didn’t think so.”

Ricardo Lopez retained his World Boxing Council strawweight championship by stopping Morgan Nduma 55 seconds into the sixth round of their title bout. The unbeaten Lopez improved to 43-0 with 33 knockouts. Nduma is 10-3-1 with four knockouts.

In the night’s other championship bout, Antonio Cermeno (25-1, 16 knockouts) defended his World Boxing Assn. junior featherweight title by scoring a sixth-round technical knockout over Eddie Saenz (15-4-1, eight knockouts). Cermeno was declared the winner when Saenz was unable to come out for the sixth round.

In a women’s bout, Christy Martin (31-1-2, 25 knockouts) stopped Bethany Payne (15-2, eight knockouts) with a left hook followed by a glancing right just as the bell sounded at the end of the first round.