 Lyakhovich survived Brewster's mid-fight onslaught |
Serguei Lyakhovich of Belarus claimed the WBO heavyweight title with a unanimous decision over America's Lamon Brewster in Cleveland on Saturday. The fight heated up in the fifth round, with Brewster unleashing a relentless assault, only for Lyakhovich to hit back and dominate a ferocious sixth.
Brewster had Lyakhovich down in the seventh and the challenger looked as though he could be shot in the eighth.
But Lyakhovich managed to hold on down the stretch to claim the victory.
The judges at ringside scored the bout 115-113, 115-112 and 117-110 for the 29-year-old Lyakhovich, who improved to 23 wins and one loss.
Brewster, 32, fell to 33-3, as yet another heavyweight belt moved into Eastern European hands.
Russian giant Nicolay Valuev owns the WBA crown while Ukrainian Wladimir Klitschko fights America's IBF champion Chris Byrd on 22 April.
WBC title-holder Hasim Rahman also has a mandatory defence against Kazak fighter Oleg Maskaev to contend with at some stage this year.
After the fight, Lyakhovich called out Klitschko, the younger brother of former WBC title-holder Vitali.
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