Gutsy Xiong comes up short

It wasn't exactly a robbery; more like being shortchanged at the grocery store.

Either way, China's Xiong Chaozhong came out on the wrong end of a 12-round unanimous decision against WBA and IBO world strawweight champion Hekkie Budler in their title brawl on Saturday night in Monte Carlo, Monaco.

Xiong (24-6-1), who lost the WBC version of the 105-pound title to Mexico's Oswaldo Novoa eight months ago, gave Budler (27-1) all he could handle after dropping the South African with a wicked counter left hook in the second round and appearing to hold the edge in terms of effective aggression the rest of the way.