Rolando Romero dropped and stopped Ismael Barroso at 2:41 of the ninth round to win the vacant WBA 140-pound title in what will be seen as a controversial result.
Barroso seemed to have built a lead on the cards after eight rounds, as Romero, who went down in Round 3, threw few punches.
Then came a crazy Round 9. Romero landed a left about a minute into the round, which Barroso seemed to take well. Romero the pushed Barroso down yet referee Tony Weeks ruled it a knockdown.
Romero tried to end the fight at that point but couldn’t do so, as Barroso continued to fight back. In the end Romero seemed to miss several shots yet Weeks stopped the fight.
Boxing Junkie had Barroso leading 78-73 after eight rounds. All three judges also had Barroso leading, 78-73, 77-74 and 76-75.
You can read a full report here.
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Former two-division titleholder Rances Barthelemy defeated Omar Juarez by a majority decision in a 10-round 143-pound fight.
Two judges had Barthelemy winning, 98-92 and 97-93. The third scored it 95-95.
Barthelemy (30-2-1, 15 KOs) was content to fight from the outside and pick his spots to throw his punches. The slick Cuban wasn’t particularly active but his power shots were accurate, with a 49% connect rate.
Juarez (14-2, 5 KOs) had success when he let his hands go, especially when he had Barthelemy pinned against the ropes. The problem for the 23-year-old Texan is that he had long periods of inactivity, which allowed Barthelemy to win rounds.
Barthelemy, 37, was coming off his first knockout loss, a six-rounder against Gary Antuanne Russell last July.
Juarez had won his previous three fights.
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Kenneth Sims Jr. defeated Batyr Akhmedov by a majority decision in a brilliant, back-and-forth 12-round battle of 140-pound contenders.
One judge scored it a draw, 114-114. The other two had Sims winning, 116-112 and 115-113.
The slick Sims (20-2-1, 7 KOs) had success with his sharp jab and counter punches to the head of Akhmedov (9-3, 8 KOs), particularly early in the fight.
Then the former amateur star from Uzbekistan seemed to take control of the fight by the third or fourth round as a result of his relentless pressure and superior activity.
However, Sims wouldn’t concede anything. He continued to stand his ground and began to turn the momentum back in his favor around Round 8 even though his right eye was swollen shut.
The last several rounds were fought at a feverish pace, with both fighters having success. That left the decision in doubt.
The victory was the biggest in the career of Sims, who has now won seven consecutive fights.
Akhmedov was coming off a split-decision loss to Albert Puello for the WBA title in August, meaning he has lost back-to-back fights.
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Rolando Romero and Ismael Barroso are scheduled to fight for the vacant WBA 140-pound title Saturday at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas (Showtime).
The featured bouts on the card begin at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT. The main event will take place later in show.
Boxing Junkie will post the results of the main event and other featured bouts immediately after they end. Simply return to this post and refresh when the time comes.
Full coverage – a fight story, photo gallery and analysis – will follow on separate posts the day of the fight and the following day.
Enjoy the fights!
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