Photos: Sumio Yamada

In a clash of unbeaten cruiserweights, Arsen Golulamirian (23-0, 15 KOs) scored a punishing eleventh round TKO over Ryad Merhy (24-1, 20 KOs) to claim the currently vacant WBA cruiserweight championship on Saturday in Marseille, France.

After a good start by Merhy over the first three rounds, Goulamirian took over the fight in the middle rounds. The referee finally intervened in round eleven to save Merhy, who was by then taking a savage beating. At the time of the stoppage, Goulamirian was ahead 96-94 on all three scorecards.