Bu Rick Reeno

Texas Station Gambling Hall, Las Vegas - Light heavyweight contender Isaac Chilemba (19-1-1, 9KOs) won a ten round unanimous decision over fading veteran Edison Miranda (35-7, 30KOs). The scores were 97-91, and 96-92 twice.

An early battle of boxer versus puncher. Chilemba was using his jab and finding openings. Miranda was his usual self - coming forward, applying a lot of pressure and swinging hard with both hands. Miranda workrate and pressure was the early difference, but the real feather in Miranda's cap was his ability to cut off the ring.

In the third round, an accidental clash of heads opened up a bad cut above the left eye of Miranda. The cut opened up further in the fourth and the blood was flowing down hard on Miranda's face. Miranda was already displaying some desperate to end it early. In the fifth round, referee Robert Byrd broke the fighters apart and took away a point from both of them. Chilemba lost a point for holding and hitting and Miranda lost a point for hitting behind the head. The cut was really bothering Miranda, who often used his glove to wipe away the flow of blood.

Chilemba hurt Miranda early in the seventh, but couldn't follow-up. Miranda was starting to slow down and Chilemba was started to land his punches without much resistance. The tide of the fight completely turned in in the eight. Miranda was a beaten fighter. He continued to come forward and threw punches, but he missed most of his shots and ate counters in return.

Rising heavyweight Magomed Abdusalamov (13-0, 13KOs) knocked out previously undefeated Pedro Rodriguez (8-1, 6KOs) in two rounds.

Rodriguez came out swinging for the fences. Not much landed, but Abdusalamov certainly didn't offer much in return. In the second round, Abdusalamov pressed Rodriguez against the ropes and unleashed a vicious series of punches to send the Cuban down. Rodriguez was seriously hurt and the referee stepped in to wave it off.

Editor's Note: The fight was originally scheduled for eight rounds, but because the opening fight with Williams and Barthelemy lasted the distance, and ESPN has a set time schedule, the heavyweight fight was cut in half - not that it mattered.

In a battle of undefeated super featherweights, Rances Barthelemy (15-0, 11KOs) won an eight round unanimous decision over Hylon Williams Jr. (15-1, 3KOs). The scores were 80-72, and 79-73 twice.

From the opening bell, it was clear that Wiliams was too small and not strong enough to hold Barthelemy off. Williams was sliding along the ropes, slipping punches and doing his best to avoid Barthelemy's incoming punches. By the third round, Williams made a few adjustments and started fighting the bigger man on the inside. Barthelemy, with the obvious reach advantage, was able to push Williams back and then keep him at the end of his punches.

However, Barthelemy spent too much time headhunting and that opened him up quite frequently to counters. Luckily for Barthelemy, Williams doesn't have a knockout punch. Williams' ability to counter-punch may been the scoring difference in some of the rounds, but the judges obviously disagreed.

Junior welterweight Jesus Gutierrez (2-0, 1KOs) won an entertaining four round unanimous decision over Cameron Kreal (0-1-2). The judges saw it 40-36, and two cards of 39-37.

Puerto Rican prospect Roberto Acevedo (3-0, 2KOs) stopped Velvet Malone (0-4) in the fourth and final round of a super middleweight contest. Malone stunned Acevedo in the second round but never let his hands go. In the fourth, Acevedo started landed several punches while he pressed Malone against the ropes, and then referee Russell More jumped in to stop it. The stoppage was rather quick.