By Rick Reeno

Light heavyweight contender Edison Miranda (34-6, 29KOs) can't believe the referee disqualified him for repeated low blows on Friday night at the Cosmopolitan Resort and Casino in Las Vegas. After two point deductions in the earlier rounds, a third low blow in the fifth gave Yordanis Despaigne (9-1, 4KOs) the biggest win of his career.

After struggling in the early going, Miranda believes he was starting to break Despaigne down and the young Cuban boxer was on the verge of being knocked out.

"They damage boxing doing this kind of thing. I already had him beat. He was ready to go. I was going to knock him out. They damage the sport by making paper champions this way. I was never hurt in the fight. I had him," Miranda said.

Like his Colombian opponent, Despaigne is confident that knockout victort was in his grasp.

"I wanted to complete the fight and knock him out. He was ready to go, but he fights dirty. I would have killed him if they would have kept going, but he was throwing headbutts, elbows, low blows. I was never hurt in the fight, other than by his dirty tactics," Despaigne said.

Trainer John David Jackson, who was working Despaigne's corner, was proud of his boxer's victory, but he admits that a lot more work is needed to polish Despaigne's skills.

"Despaigne is not a bad boxer, but he needs a lot more work. [The win] says something [about Despaigne] but not a lot. Miranda has been beaten five fights. He's pretty much a shot fighter. He's still dangerous, but as far as top fighters he's shot. The last round to me, I didn't think [the low blow] was that bad. It was foul, and it was the third one, and it cost him. It's unfortunate that he got disqualified. I would have loved to see the fight go three or four more rounds," Jackson said.