Sunday 22 May 2016 14:56, UK
Jermell Charlo made boxing history on Saturday after an eighth-round knockout of John Jackson in Las Vegas.
His victory saw him join twin brother Jermall as a world super-welterweight champion - Jermell holds the WBC title while Jermall is the IBF champion - the first time twins have held world titles at the same weight.
The latter defended his belt around an hour after his brother's win with a hard-fought unanimous decision over Austin Trout in the same ring.
Jermell Charlo was trailing on all three judges scorecards after the first seven rounds against Jackson, but unleashed a brutal series of punches to score a knockout in the eighth round.
Charlo, who had caught Jackson flush on the chin with a left hook in the fifth round, connected with another stinging blow to his opponent's head early in the eighth round.
A stunned Jackson appeared dazed by the shot and turned away from Charlo, who moved in for the kill, sending his opponent crashing into the ropes with two left hooks to the head.
Referee Tony Weeks halted the fight to prevent Jackson suffering further punishment.
"It's history, we did it," a delighted Charlo said. "I'm waiting on my brother next," added Charlo, who improved to 28-0 with 13 knockouts.
Jermell then reappeared at ringside to watch his brother beat Trout with two judges scoring it 116-112 and a third 115-113 for a unanimous victory.
The Charlo brothers embraced in the ring after a triumphant night.
"It wasn't a struggle, it was an experience," Jermall Charlo told an interviewer.
"I want to thank God for allowing me and my twin brother to see this day, baby. History, baby. It feels good."
Jermall Charlo (24-0, 18 knockouts) said he hoped his family's dominance of the division would lead to bigger fights.
"It feels good because I knew my brother would get the job done, and we belong at this level," Jermall said.
"And for us to get the attention that we need, we need these titles and we need to keep these titles."
In the third world title-fight on Saturday's card, Cuban-born American Erislandy Lara defended his WBA super welterweight title with a unanimous decision over Vanes Martirosyan.
Lara had fought to a controversial draw against Martirosyan in 2012, but fared better against the American-Armenian from Los Angeles in another gritty contest.
Lara, who improved to 23-2-2 with 13 knockouts, won by a margin of 115-112 on one card while two other judges scored it 116-111.
Earlier in the evening, WBA cruiserweight champion Beibut Shumenov defended his title with a 10th round stoppage of Junior Wright.
Shumenov controlled the contest but was knocked down in the fifth by a hard left before recovering to register two knockdowns of his own in round eight.
Wright went down for a third time in the 10th, prompting his corner to throw in the towel.
In the night's other boxing, Russia's Denis Lebedev stopped Argentina's Victor Emilio Ramirez in the second round to unify the WBA and IBF cruiserweight titles in Moscow.
Lebedev, who came in as the WBA champion, moved well from the start, hit Ramirez with hard left uppercuts early in the second round and eventually knocked him down.
Ramirez beat the count and continued, but within seconds, he was overwhelmed by more hammer blows from Lebedev's left, and the referee stepped in to stop the fight.
