By Jake Donovan

Roberto Domingo Sosa punched his way to a super flyweight title shot after beating South Africa’s Zolani Tete by split decision Saturday evening in Cordoba, Argentina.

Scores were 115-114 Tete, while Sosa won by nods of 115-114 and 115-113 in their main event, an elimination bout to determine the mandatory challenger for 21-year old super flyweight titlist Juan Carlos Sanchez Jr. 

Sosa overcame a very slow start as Tete was able to put his height and reach advantages to good use. The unbeaten Argentine struggled at times to get around his opponent’s long arms, but never stopped pressing the action, which was enough to sway the judges.

ete appeared to want a way out after separate flops to the canvas in consecutive rounds 0nce Sosa was able to work his way inside midway through the bout. A borderline low blow in round seven prompted the visiting fighter to fall to the canvas after a delayed reaction. Tete fell to a knee one round later after taking a headbutt to the body and an overhand right upstairs. 

The referee warned Sosa for his roughhouse tactics, but the speech never took. The unbeaten contender rose from a slip to go on the attack in the 10th, only to receive another warning from the referee.

After spending several rounds in retreat, Tete began to make his mark late in the fight. The surge made for thrilling two way action down the stretch, but wasn’t enough to make up the difference on two of the three cards.

Sosa improves to 24-0 (14KO) with the win. His next fight will be for the title, once Sanchez is done with an optional defense later this month.

Tete heads home having now lost two of his last three, falling to 16-3 (14KO). The bout was his second trip outside of his native South Africa, having also lost to Juan Alberto Rosas in a separate eliminator late last year. 

Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of Boxingscene.com. Follow Jake on Twitter: @JakeNDaBox