Mexican star Fernando Montiel (41-2-2, 31 KOs), 118, astoundingly captured the WBC bantamweight throne as he came back from a losing pace, abruptly exploded vicious left hooks and badly hurt defending champ Hozumi Hasegawa (28-3, 12 KOs), 117.75, a Japanese hero making his eleventh defense, to cause the referee’s intervention at 2:59 of the fourth round on Friday in Tokyo, Japan. Hasegawa, a Japanese southpaw, was dominating the proceedings thanks to his advantageous speed, as shown by the official tallies: Duane Ford (US) 30-27, Steve Morrow (US) and Daniel Van de Wiele (Belgium) both 29-28, all for the WBC champ. Positively stalking the retreating Montiel, Hasegawa might become a little too careless to avert the Mexican’s compact but effective countering left hooks. Hasegawa’s legs looked gone, as he momentarily became stationary with his back to the ropes, while Montiel kept raining a fusillade of punches to the groggy Japanese. The ref Laurence Cole declared a halt to save Hasegawa from further punishment just a second remaining in the fatal fourth