Ponce De Leon keeps featherweight crown

Thirty of Daniel Ponce De Leon's victories have been by knockout, but on Saturday night he never came close to making it 31.

Didn't matter.

Ponce De Leon was the aggressor throughout in dominating Eduardo Escobedo to retain the WBO junior featherweight championship with a 12-round unanimous decision at the MGM Grand Garden.

"It was very difficult," Ponce De Leon said. "I didn't expect him to box too much. I tried to knock him out at the beginning, but I couldn't because he has some very good boxing skills."

This was the only title fight on the undercard to the Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Ricky Hatton welterweight championship.

Ponce De Leon ran his record to 34-1 while suffering a cut above an eye, which he said was from a head butt.

But he was never in trouble against Escobedo (20-3), taking control early. Judges Adalaide Byrd scored the fight 115-113, Duane Ford 117-111 and Robert Hoyle 118-110.

"I thought I did enough to win this fight," Escobedo said. "From the start of their camp, they said they were going to walk through me and knock me out. It didn't happen. I stood tough and took his shots. He knows I'm a tough fighter."

This was Ponce De Leon's sixth successful defense of his WBO championship, a title he has owned since 2005. "I want to relax and get the best shots of the next year," he said.

Also on the undercard, Jeff Lacy (23-1) won a 10-round super middleweight unanimous decision over Peter Manfredo (28-5). The judges scored the fight 95-94, 96-93 and 97-92.

The fight was Lacy's first since he suffered a torn left rotator cuff a year ago.

"It felt great to be back in the ring," Lacy said. "I had a little ring rust, but my shoulder felt good. I had all the desire, all the will and determination to win this fight. I could have taken a nobody, but I wanted to fight a real name."

This victory continued the comeback for Lacy, a former super middleweight champion in three organizations. He has won twice since losing his title in March 2006.

In the other televised undercard fight, Edner Cherry (23-5-2) knocked out Wes Ferguson (17-3-1) with one second left in the sixth round of their lightweight match. It was Cherry's 11 career knockout.

Contact reporter Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com or (702) 387-2914.