Liles Defends Title

Frankie Liles successfully defended his WBA super middleweight title, stopping Ecuador’s Segundo Mercado at 1:37 of the fifth round at Shreveport, La.

Liles of Las Vegas, who improved to 30-1 with his 19th knockout, floored Mercado with a right hook just 20 seconds into the bout, and knocked the challenger off balance against the ropes in the second round with a combination to the head.

Mercado, the WBA No. 11 contender, dropped to 19-4-1.

At Milan, Italy, Giovanni Parisi landed an unanswered flurry of blows in the eighth round and stopped Harold Miller to retain the World Boxing Organization super lightweight title.