SAN CATALDO, Sicily -- American Kelvin Seabrooks recovered from two early knockdowns Thursday to retain his International Boxing Federation bantamweight title with a fourth-round knockout of Ernie Cataluna of the Philippines.
Seabrooks withstood a furious early attack from Cataluna, who kept the champion on the ropes for the entire first round and knocked him down twice in the first three minutes.
Seabrooks, 24, of Charlotte, N.C., improved his career mark to 22-13 while Cataluna, the top-ranked IBF challenger, dropped to 26-6-3. Seabrooks weighed in at 115.2 pounds and Cataluna, 29, was at 115.
The American, a former restaurant dishwasher, began scoring in the second and third rounds and unleshed a flurry of punches in the fourth to floor Cataluna twice.
Referee Al Rothemberg gave Cataluna an eight-count in the fourth after he was dropped by Seabrooks. The challenger struggled to his feet, but was immediately decked again at the 2:52 mark.
'I came within a second of stopping the fight in the first round,' Rothemberg told Seabrook's corner. 'But Seabrook's eyes were clear, so I let him go on.'
Seabrooks, 24, won the title May 15 when he knocked out Colombian Miguel Maturana. He successfully defended his title in July against Frenchman Thierry Jacob.
