Orlando Canizales held onto his International Boxing Federation bantamweight title on Saturday when a no contest was declared in the third round of his defense against Derrick Whiteboy.
Referee Bobby Gonzales stopped the bout 1 minute, 23 seconds into the round after an accidental head butt by Whiteboy opened a severe laceration above Canizales' left eye.Canizales (34-1-1) retained the title he won from Kelvin Seabrooks in 1988. Whiteboy, the South African bantamweight champ, remained 32-2.
"I'm extremely upset that something like this would happen," Canizales said. "But that's just the nature of this sport. From the moment the butt occurred, I knew the cut was bad.
"Blood was streaming down my face and the pain was starting to set in. I'm disappointed it happened this way, but I have to agree with the referee's decision," he said.
"It wasn't my plan to try to win by knockout," he said. "I just wanted to be patient and build up the points," Canizales said.