AFP, Washington :
Undefeated Robert Easter and once-beaten US compatriot Daniel Jacobs captured world boxing titles in fights Friday at Reading, Pennsylvania.
Easter claimed the vacant International Boxing Federation lightweight crown with a 12-round split-decision triumph over previously unbeaten Richard Commey of Ghana.
Easter and Commey each won 114-113 in the eyes of one judge, while the deciding judge scored the bout 115-112 for Easter.
“In the last round, when I needed the round, I went out and got it,” Easter said. “I took everything that I had, all 16 years in the sport, and I used it to go get that belt.”
Jacobs kept the World Boxing Association middleweight title by stopping fellow American Sergio Mora in the seventh round, his fifth knockdown of the bout.
“I didn’t expect to knock him down as much, but I did see the fight ending in a knockout,” Jacobs said. “It took a while because he’s so tricky. I wasn’t able to jab the way I wanted.”
Jacobs’ claim to the throne in the weight class is below that of the WBA’s “super” champion, Kazakstan’s Gennady Golovkin, who fights Britain’s Kell Brook in London on Saturday.
“I want to prove to the world that I’m the best middleweight,” Jacobs said. “If (Golovkin) gets the victory, that’s who we want.”
Easter improved to 18-0 with 14 knockouts while Commey fell to 24-1 with 22 knockouts, having won his five prior fights inside the distance.
“I feel like I won this fight,” Commey said. “I did everything that I could. I landed the more accurate shots. I deserve a rematch. I want to be a world champion.
“Even if he doesn’t want to fight me, I want another opportunity. I can fight at the highest level in the world.”
In the eighth round, Commey connected with a hammering right hand that forced Easter to touch a glove to the canvas.
Each reached the 12th round for the first time in his career, Easter wobbling Commey early in the round but unable to prevent him from going the distance.
“In the last round I caught him right on the chin. That wobbled him. He held on for dear life,” Easter said. “I knew it was going to come down to a split decision. I felt in my heart that I did enough.”
The other title fight saw Jacobs knock down Mora five times on the way to victory after referee Gary Rosato stopped the bout at 2:08 of the seventh round.
Jacobs improved to 32-1 with 29 knockouts by winning the rematch of last year’s fight that saw Jacobs win despite being knocked down in the opening round.
“I was trying to catch him like I did in the first fight but I couldn’t do it,” Mora said.
Mora, who was a super welterweight world champion in 2008, fell to 28-5 with two drawn in his first fight since losing to Jacobs last year.
