Simms second time better, gets back his belt
Travis Simms says he is the real champion after coming back from two years recess to beat undefeated WBA Super Welterweight Champion ,Jose Antonio Rivera on Saturday night at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino arena in Hollywood ,Florida, taking back the title he never really lostreports Samm etuk.
Simms won by TKO as the referee Frank Santore Jr stopped the fight just two minutes into the 9th round after the Champion had suffered a second knock down. Although, Rivera protested it was clear that he was badly wounded as he kept bleeding from the nose profusely after sustaining the injury in the second round.
“I won the fight fair and square,” Simms shouted as his manager and wife Sandra Stokes-Simms climbed into the ring to celebrate the victory with him.
“I would have still won if the referee did not stop the fight,” he intoned. The three judges had scored him ahead of Rivera at 80-71, 80-71 and 79-72. He was therefore heading onto a split decision victory all the same.
Simms, whose WBA super welterweight belt was stripped because he never defended it, kept screaming,
"I am not known as a power puncher," Simms said. "I'm a stick and move guy. But I proved I've got power tonight."
The Simms-Rivera fight highlighted the undercard of the WBC heavyweight elimination fight between Samuel Peter and James Toney.
Fighting for the first time since October 2004, when he easily defended the WBA super welterweight belt with a unanimous decision over Bronco McKart, Simms (25-0, 19 KOs) controlled the fight, leading 80-71 on one card after eight rounds and 79-72 on the other.
It was only the third fight in nearly 4 1/2 years for Simms, who got his "champion in recess" title while Rivera (38-5-1) emerged as the actual titleholder after beating Alejandro Garcia in May.
But Simms showed no signs of rust after the long layoff. He tossed Rivera to the canvas in the first round, drawing a chorus of boos from the sellout crowd of about 5,000 at the Seminole Hard Rock Casino.
Rivera went down again in the second, and that was a legitimate knockdown as Simms began taking control. He had Rivera's chest and arms covered in blood -- pouring from Rivera's nose -- by the end of the second round, and managed to successfully avoid most of Rivera's biggest punches.