On Monday in Tokyo, Takefumi Sakata handed Lorenzo Parra his first loss in 28 professional fights, in a strange finish that saw Parra's corner throw in the towel 14 seconds into the third round.
Parra's camp says the Venezuelan fighter was injured on a headbutt to the chest from Sakata, who has twice lost to Parra -- he had his jaw broken in 2004, and lost again on a close decision in 2005. Sakata dominated the opening two rounds against Parra, who came in overweighted and, from all reports, looked clearly unmotivated. Parra weighed in at 116¾ pounds, 4¾ over the flyweight limit.
Sakata, now the WBA flyweight champion, improved his career mark to 30-4-1.