Kelly Pavlik stopped challenger Miguel Espino in the fifth round to retain his WBC and WBO middleweight titles in front of a hometown crowd in Youngstown, Ohio late Saturday. Pavlik, who has a 36-1 record, twice knocked down Espino with uppercuts in the fourth round, and put him down for a third time in the fifth. Espino fought back after the final knockdown but his trainer waved a towel to signal his fighter had had enough. Despite being a heavy underdog, Espino (20-3-1) took the fight to Pavlik from the opening seconds and continued to throw punches even after the bell rang to end the first round. That earned Espino a rebuke and point deduction from referee Steve Smoger, who also warned him about low blows in the second and third rounds but did not deduct another point. “I tip my hat to the kid,” said Pavlik in the ring. “He came here to fight. It came down to guts and glory.” The fight was fought at close range throughout, with Pavlik willingly engaging his challenger at close quarters. While Espino landed frequently with flurries, Pavlik's blows always appeared the more damaging, and he ripped his opponent repeatedly with body shots before landing the conclusive blows. Pavlik's promoter, Bob Arum, said afterwards that if Williams and his team agreed the fight could happen early next year. Valero remains champ In Venezuela, Venezuela's Edwin Valero defeated Mexican Hector Velazquez Saturday to retain his WBC lightweight title. Valero dispatched his opponent in six rounds, with Velazquez not answering the bell for the seventh. The 28-year-old Valero now has accumulated 26 victories, none of which have gone the distance, with 19 ending in the first round. The hometown favorite overcame a bleeding eyebrow and nose after a pair of accidental head clashes early in the fight.
