Jamaican boxer wins US light-heavy title

NEW YORK: Unranked Glen Johnson won the vacant USBA light heavyweight boxing  championship with a unanimous 12-round decision over sixth-ranked Eric Harding.

Johnson, a 34-year-old Jam-aican who lives in Miami, improved to 39-1-9. Harding, who’s from Philadelphia, was fighting for the first time in a year; he dropped to 23-1-1. There were no knockdowns on Sunday, but Johnson opened a cut over Harding’s right eye with a left jab in the third round. Johnson inadvertently head-butted his opponent in the seventh round, opening a cut over Harding’s left eye. Johnson stayed away from Harding in the final round, preserving the victory. “I was never hurt,” Johnson said. “The fight was mine at that point, and I didn’t want to give him an opening for a knockout.”