Corpus Christi Caller Times Caller.com - Resurgent Hill topples Tiozzo in one

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Sunday, December 10, 2000

Resurgent Hill topples Tiozzo in one
Quick victory over boxer gives American the WBA cruiserweight championship
Associated Press
VILLEURBANNE, France - American Virgil Hill knocked out Fabrice Tiozzo of France in the first round on Saturday and won the WBA cruiserweight championship.
   Hill, 36, floored Tiozzo three times, ending the fight in Villeurbanne in central France.
   It was only the second loss of Tiozzo's career. His only other loss also came in a split decision against Hill seven years ago.
   Hill opened the fight with a series of punishing left punches, as Tiozzo attempted to dodge his faster opponent.
   Tiozzo, 31, went down for the first time 30 seconds before the end of the round on a right hand. As soon as he got up, he was floored again with a left.
   Sensing victory, Hill swarmed in with a volley of right and left hooks to drop Tiozzo a third time, prompting the referee to stop the fight.
   "I'm quitting boxing," Tiozzo told French state television France-3 after the match.
   But moments later, the Frenchman was less certain. "Maybe I spoke a bit too soon, we'll see," he told France-3.
   Hill is now 46-3, with 22 knockouts, and Tiozzo is 42-2 with 28 knockouts.
   The title bout was Hill's first fight since May, 1999, when he outpointed countryman Glenn Thomas in a 10-rounder in Minot, North Dakota.
   It had been more than 2 ½ years since Hill faced a world class opponent and four years since he had beaten one. He was knocked out in four rounds by Roy Jones Jr. in 1998.
   Saturday's fight had been delayed a number of times, most recently in September when Hill fractured his right wrist a week before the fight. Last week, Hill said the injury was healed.

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