HAMBURG, Germany (AP) -Guillermo Jones of Panama stopped Firat Arslan in the 10th round Saturday to win the WBA cruiserweight title.
Jones hurt the German fighter with a series of bruising blows to the head and the fight was stopped with 27 seconds left in the 10th.
The 36-year-old Panamanian, who was the No. 1-ranked challenger, improved to 36-3-2.
``I worked very hard for this title,'' Jones said after the victory ceremony in the ring.
Arslan, who turned 38 during the fight as it went past midnight, dropped to 29-4-1. He won the title in November 2007 from Virgil Hill and was making his second defense.
The German was bleeding heavily from the bottom lip and the nose from the third round on. Arslan was taken to a hospital to have his injuries examined.
Jones took control from the start with a series of uppercuts and blows to the body. Arslan tried to counter punch, but he rarely found the target and lacked power in his punches.
Arslan landed a hard right at the end of the third round but Jones easily absorbed it. The German began getting through more often in the next two rounds but Jones always came back strongly, scoring with both hands.
Earlier, Denis Inkin of Russia (34-0) won the vacant WBO super-middleweight title, unanimously outpointing Fulgencio Zuniga of Colombia (21-3-1). Also, Juan Carlos Gomez of Cuba (44-1) won a unanimous decision over Vladimir Virchis of Ukraine (24-2) in a heavyweight contest.
Inkin won the title left vacant by Joe Calzaghe, who is fighting Roy Jones Jr. in November for the light heavyweight title.
Gomez can now hope to fight the winner of the Samuel Peter vs. Vitali Klitschko WBC title fight.
