LAS VEGAS - Jose Varela of Nicaragua scored a knockdown in the 11th round and took a 12-round majority decision over Corey Johnson of Detroit to capture the vacant World Boxing Council Continental Americas super-welterweight championship Friday night at the South Coast Hotel and Casino.
In another fight, 6-foot-9 1/2, 262-pound heavyweight Ty Fields of Las Vegas stopped veteran Maurice Harris of Newark, NJ by technical knockout after five rounds in a bout scheduled for 10.
Varela won by a score of 115-112 on two of the judges' cards and was 113-113 on the other. He was even on two cards and trailed on one card through 10 rounds. The 154-pound Varela is 18-2 with 12 knockouts.
Johnson, 152, has a mark of 33-3 with 11 knockouts.
Fields, now 37-1 with 34 knockouts, won every round. His body attack finally bludgeoned Harris, now 20-14-2 with 10 knockouts, into submission. Harris, who has a win over World Boxing Organization heavyweight champion Serguei Lykahovic, weighed 261.