LOS ANGELES — Deontay Wilder dropped Eric Molina three times before knocking him out in the ninth round Saturday to retain his World Boxing Council heavyweight world title before delighted home fans in Birmingham, Alabama. Wilder was making his first defense of the title he won in January, when he became the first American since Shannon Briggs in 2007 to claim a piece of the heavyweight world title. The 29-year-old American improved to 34-0 with 33 wins inside the distance, while Molina fell to 23-3 with 17 knockouts. On the undercard, Puerto Rico's Jose Pedraza claimed the vacant International Boxing Federation super-featherweight world title with a lopsided unanimous 12-round decision over Russian Andrey Klimov. Pedraza with two ring-side judges giving him the decision 120-108 and one seeing it 119-109. Pedraza improved to 20-0 with 12 knockouts. Klimov fell to 19-2. In New York, Jamaican sensation Nicholas Walters remained unbeaten and avenged an amateur defeat with a 12-round unanimous decision over Miguel Marriaga Saturday that left the World Boxing Association featherweight world title vacant. Walters prevailed to take his record to 26-0 with 21 wins inside the distance. He dealt Marriaga a first defeat, the Colombian falling to 21-1 with 18 knockouts. In Birmingham, Alabama, Jose Pedraza claimed the vacant IBF junior lightweight title with a unanimous decision over Andrey Klimov. Pedraza (20-0) controlled the action through much of the fight at Bartow Arena, ending the second and seventh rounds with a flurry of punches after backing Klimov (19-2) into the corner. Two judges gave the three-time Puerto Rican amateur champion every round with a score of 120-108, while the third scored it 119-109. In Mexico City, Fabricio Werdum of Brazil defeated a rusty Cain Velasquez by tap-out in the third round to become the undisputed heavyweight champion at UFC 188. With 2:13 left in the third round, Werdum (20-5-1) took down Velasquez. Prior to the main event, Mexican-American middleweight Kelvin Gastelum (12-1) got a TKO in the second round to defeat Nate Marquardt (36-15-2), a 36 year-old former strikeout champion. — Agencies
