LAS VEGAS, Aug. 19 -- American Terry Norris finally regained the World Boxing Council super welterweight title from Luis Santana by stopping him Saturday in the second-round of their scheduled 12-round bout at the MGM Grand. The fight was an early afternoon special attraction before the return of Mike Tyson later in the evening and fans were allowed in free.
Norris, 39-6, floored Santana three times in the second round before referee Joe Cortez signaled an end to the fight with the defending champion on one knee in the middle of the ring from the final knockdown at 2:09. 'I finally got my title back,' said Norris, who finished off Santana with a right hand flush to the chin. 'I knew if I set him up and dropped bombs on him, we could get him out of there.' The finish was the first that did not end in controversy in rivalry marked with bizarre conclusions. Santana had taken the crown from Norris last November on a disqualification when the American landed a late blow. In their rematch in April, Santana again won on disqualification when Norris landed another late blow after the bell. Both times Santana was carried out of the ring on a stretcher. Norris decided he will not give Santana another chance. 'I will never fight him again,' he said. 'He's out of my life.' Santana, 40-16, was dropped on the seat of his pants in the middle of the ring with a right for the first knockdown. He got up to one knee and beat the count at eight. Moments later Santana went down again, from a left uppercut. 'The first shot hurt him and he wasn't able to recover,' said Grant Elvis Phillips, Santana's manager. 'He got caught cold.'
