By Jake Donovan

CINCINNATI, Ohio--Jose Pedraza hard to work long and hard to preserve his unbeaten record, outlasting Edner Cherry en route to a 12-round split decision Saturday evening at U.S. Bank Arena.

Scores were 116-112 for Cherry, and 117-111 (twice) in favor of Pedraza, who made the first defense of his super featherweight title.

The switch-hitting Pedraza was too slick and quick for the 33-year old challenger early in the fight, scoring with straight shots upstairs while cleverly slipping the incoming.

Cherry made a mid-fight adjustment, and with that came a competitive co-feature on Showtime. Pedraza was slowed down by Cherry's aggression, also physically paying the price as he fought through a rapidly swelling mouse under his right eye.

Sensing his title reign was slipping away, Pedraza predominantly fought from the southpaw stance over the final four rounds. Body shots were key in preventing Cherry from coming forward, at least not throwing as much.

That strategy was enough for Pedraza to preserve the win, despite Cherry's strong surge down the stretch. Most at ringside had it much closer than the judges, nor were the wide scores well received by those in attendance.

Nevertheless, it's a win for Pedraza, who improves to 21-0 (12KOs). The fight marked the first defense of the vacant super featherweight title he claimed in a 12-round win over Andrey Klimov in June, which also aired on Showtime.

Cherry heads home with an 11-fight unbeaten streak snapped. The Florida-based Bahamian falls to 34-7-2 (19KOs), losing for the first time since a title fight defeat to then-unbeaten 140 lb. champ Timothy Bradley Jr. in 2008.

 Jake Donovan is the managing editor of BoxingScene.com.

 Twitter: @JakeNDaBox

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