By Rafael Soto
In another big upset in 2017, super flyweight journeyman Ulises Lara (18-15, 10 KOs) won a ten round majority decision over former world champion and highly ranked Moises Fuentes (25-4-1, 13 KOs) at the Auditorio del Sindicato de Trabajadores de IMSS in Mexico City.
The judges saw it 97-94, 97-93 for Lara and 95-95 for the draw. The event was promoted by Zanfer Promotions and televised by TV Azteca throughout Mexico.
A great atmosphere decorated the stirring duel. The match was fierce from the very first round and continued with the same pace into the tenth, as the crowd stood up and applauded both of them.
Fuentes would impose his hard punches and used his reach, but Lara absorbed the strong impacts well and in addition showed off better speed and an overall physical condition to do well during heated exchanges.
"I was very satisfied with the fight. Fuentes has a strong punch, he connected on me several times, but I had studied him well. I boxed well and my preparation was excellent. This victory over Fuentes opens up opportunities for me to go for a world title," Lara said.
The loss is a major setback for Fuentes, who was looking to bounce back from a December knockout loss to Kosei Tanaka when they clashed for the vacant WBO world title. Prior to that Fuentes had built up a five fight win streak.
Lara on the other hand, was also coming off a loss, by way of a decision in January to Maximino Flores. Lara has fought a lot of tough talent over the years, but is almost every instance he lost by decision or knockout.