The jab of Ramos was giving Baranchyk fits throughout the second and third before a wild final minute in the latter. Baranchyk landed a huge right hand to drop Ramos and suddenly it seemed the momentum had swung. Just as suddenly, Ramos was on his feet and dropping Baranchyk with a left hook that had the young Russian wobbly as the bell sounded to end the third.

Ramos was down again in the fourth in another hotly contested frame. He’d appeared to stun Baranchyk to the body only to be felled by the second of a pair of flush Baranchyk left hooks. Both men kept their feet for the next two rounds of furious action, taking turns digging body shots and landing combinations to the head with blood dripping from the nose of Baranchyk.

The heavy hooks and crosses of Baranchyk were showing their toll in the seventh with Ramos swelling around both eyes. Still both men stayed in close quarters, banging away. The advantage was with Baranchyk in the round but Ramos wasn’t without offense. Baranchyk maintained the edge in the eighth, trapping Ramos on the ropes for extended periods and opening a cut under the left eye.

They continued to make war for the final two rounds, Baranchyk winning the rounds but Ramos never making it easy. In the closing moments, Ramos was in trouble but the referee let him hear the final bell and both men scaled the ropes to the cheers of the crowd. They earned them and Baranchyk earned the unanimous scores of 97-92, a too wide 99-91, and 97-93.

In cruiserweight action, we saw a battle of undefeated prospects.

Over eight full rounds, 28-year old Joseph Williams (11-0, 7 KO), 178 ½, of Queens, New York, simply outworked 28-year old Lenin Castillo (15-1-1, 10 KO), 177 ¼, of the Dominican Republic. Castillo, whose corner implored him to go for a knockout in the final round couldn’t find one but he did find a sympathetic judges at 76-76. That scorecard was fairly overruled at 78-74 and 77-75 for Williams. The referee was Gerald Ritter.

It was bombs away from start to finish in the televised opener.

In the end, that was no problem for 21-year old Jr. lightweight Jon Fernandez (11-0, 9 KO), 129 ½, of Spain. Fernandez scored a knockdown in round one and laid a steady drumbeat of leather on 28-year old Ernesto Garza (7-2, 4 KO), 126 ½, of Saginaw, Michigan, as the fight wore on. Garza fired back and gave it his all but Fernandez was too big, and too much better. Garza was saved from further punishment at 1:39 of the third round. The referee was Gary Ritter.

The card was televised in the US on Showtime as part of its ShoBox series, promoted by DiBella Entertainment.

Cliff Rold is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene and a member of the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board and the Boxing Writers Association of America.  He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com