Roberto Lerio Wins Aussie 118-pound Title in Queensland

Sydney, Australia-based Roberto ?Hands of Stone? Lerio of General Santos City won big and captured the vacant Australian bantamweight belt in the Sunshine State of Queensland when he edged local Featherweight champion, Jason ?Nugget? Cooper on two of the three judges? scorecards last Saturday at the Norths Leagues & Services Club. He now adds his newly-won belt to his collection of Australian titles as he previously owned the Super Bantamweight title back on December 2008 when he won a 7th-round technical decision victory against another Australian, Mark Quon although he lost it four months later to Fred Mundraby via 6th- round TKO.

Judges Adam Height and Phil Austin both scored the fight in favor of Lerio with 96-94 and 96-95 respectively while Tony Kettlewell saw it going Cooper?s way with 97-94. Despite the split verdict, however, they reflected how close the fight between the two was. This fight was supervised by John Hogg while the third man in the ring was Alan Moore.

With the win, Lerio improves his underdog record to 14 wins, 14 losses, and 1 draw while the erstwhile undefeated Cooper of the fight promoter, Damian Smith?s Deception Bay Boxing Club, drops to 2 wins, 1 loss, and 1 draw; with two of those by knockout.