Rafael Ruelas Rallies, Wins the IBF’s Lightweight Title

In a test of endurance and punching power, Rafael Ruelas teetered on the brink of suffering a first-round knockout before regaining his composure and taking the International Boxing Federation lightweight championship away from Freddie Pendleton in an unanimous decision at the Forum on Saturday night.

Pendleton sent Ruelas to the canvas twice in the first 1:30 of the first round--the first with a sharp overhand right, the second with a left hook to the chin--and Ruelas looked ready to crash for good.

“I was a little cold coming out, not really warmed up that good,” Ruelas said. “He caught me on the top of the head.

“I knew after the knockdowns I had to keep doing what I do best, and that’s be consistent, keep the pressure on.”

Ruelas went down twice more, in the ninth and 12th, but referee Robert Byrd ruled that they were slips, not knockdowns. Pendleton hit the canvas in the 11th, and that, too, was ruled a slip.

The judges’ scores were 116-111, 115-110 and 114-112.

By the sixth round, Ruelas (40-1) was controlling Pendleton (35-19-4), and Pendleton’s nose was bleeding by the ninth. Pendleton later required stitches in his tongue.

But in the ninth, Pendleton landed a right hand, sending Ruelas flying into the ropes, in what clearly appeared to be a knockdown. Pendleton attacked Ruelas as the round ended, and swung at the dazed Ruelas long after the bell sounded.

In the 12th, with Ruelas dominating, Pendleton jarred him with another right. Neither was ruled a knockdown.

“Nothing was going to stop me from going after my dream,” Ruelas said. “But if feels great now, all the work has paid off.”