TOKYO (AP) -Juan Carlos Salgado of Mexico knocked out Jorge Linares of Venezuela in the first round Saturday to take the WBC super featherweight title.
Salgado sent Linares to the canvas with a left to the head just 1 minute, 13 seconds into the bout at Yoyogi National Gymnasium.
Salgado, who was making his first attempt at a major title, improved to 22-0-1 (16 KOs) while Linares suffered his first professional loss to slip to 27-1 (18 KOs). Linares had held the belt since beating Oscar Larios in July 2007, and defended it with knockouts of Gamaliel Diaz, Whyber Garcia and Josafat Perez.
Toshiaki Nishioka of Japan retained his WBC super bantamweight title when Mexico's Ivan Hernandez couldn't continue after the third round. Hernandez traded punches until the end of the third round but did not come out for the fourth after it was feared he had a broken jaw.
Nishioka improved to 35-4-3 with 21 KOs while Hernandez dropped to 25-4-1 (15 KOs).
The 33-year-old Japanese - a former WBC bantamweight champion - claimed this title in September 2008 with a decision over Thailand's Napapol Kiatisakchokchai and defended it with knockouts of Genaro Garcia and Jhonny Gonzalez.
