Xu moving up in world

Hometown hero retains WBA title on memorable night for Chinese pugilism

'Monster' Xu Can retained his WBA world featherweight title on Sunday with a ruthless display that boosted both his own mainstream appeal and the profile of Chinese professional boxing in general.

The 25-year-old dispatched Japanese challenger Shun Kubo with a sixth-round stoppage in front of 5,000 boisterous fans in his hometown of Fuzhou.

Xu's relentless aggression smothered any hope Kubo might have had for effective countering as he dropped the former WBA super bantamweight champion in the fifth round with a three-punch combo. He finished off Kubo (13-2, 9 KOs) with another assault in the sixth as referee Gustavo Padilla stopped the fight with 1:44 left.

The victory in his first title defense improved Xu to 17-2(3 KOs) and showed he's definitely in the mix for a unification bout against the more experienced WBC, IBF and WBO titleholders. The triumph also saw Xu become just the second Chinese alongside Xiong Chaozhong (2013, WBC minimumweight) to successfully defend a world championship belt.

In the co-main event, Carlos Canizales of Venezuela dominated to retain his WBA junior flyweight world title by unanimous decision (118-110, 119-109, and 119-109).