Mercado beats Britain's Ali to retain WBC title

Ramla Ali (left) lost for the second time in her career

Britain's Ramla Ali lost to Yamileth Mercado on a unanimous points decision as the Mexican retained her WBC world super-bantamweight title in Arizona.

Ali, 34, was aiming for a maiden world title in Phoenix, but Mercado defended her title for a seventh time with the judges scoring 98-92, 98-93, 97-93 in the 26-year-old's favour.

Mercado, who has owned the belt since 2019, started the brighter and stifled Ali's counter-punching in the later rounds to take the victory.

"Didn't get the result tonight but still got the love," Ali wrote on Instagram.

"I wish Yamileth all the best and her judges."

Elsewhere, Britain's Sunny Edwards returned to winning ways after a unanimous points victory against Mexican flyweight Adrian Curiel.

Edwards, who was beaten for the first time in his career against Jesse Rodriguez in December, scored 90-82, 88-84, 87-85 with the judges.

But the bout was ended prematurely, before the ninth round, when the ringside doctor ordered the referee to stop the fight due to a cut on Edwards' right eye.

The cut was opened in the sixth round after an accidental clash of heads between the pair. The decision was met by boos by fans, leaving Edwards puzzled.

"I don’t know if the crowd realises what happened, but I had nothing to do with this," he said.

"The referee stopped the fight. I’m more upset than any of the 10,000 fans. I thought I was going to get him out of here."

Following up his win against Edwards in December, Rodriguez continued his unbeaten record with a knockout win against Juan Estrada.

The 24-year-old became the new WBC and Ring Magazine super-flyweight world champion with a devastating body punch in the seventh round.

"I saw the way he was rolling on the floor," said Rodriguez. "I knew that was it."

The American did have to survive a knockdown of his own in the fifth round, hitting the canvas for the first time in his professional career.

"I got dropped for the first time - that was crazy," Rodriguez said.

"I just got caught with a punch. The next thing you know I was on the floor, but I've always wanted to experience that."