By Keith Idec
Ocean Resort Casino, Atlantic City - In the walkout bout following Bryant Jennings’ ninth-round stoppage of Alexander Dimitrenko, former WBA super featherweight champion Jason Sosa won a hard-fought, eight-round unanimous decision against Reynaldo Blanco.
Sosa dropped Blanco with a left hook early in the eighth round, but the extremely tough Blanco got up and tried to make the rest of the round competitive. Sosa knocked him down again, this time with a right hand, just as the final bell sounded.
Blanco beat the count again with no time left in the eighth round and the fight ended. Sosa (21-3-4, 15 KOs), of Camden, New Jersey, won by scores of 79-69, 78-70 and 77-72 over Puerto Rico’s Blanco (14-5, 8 KOs).
Sosa started strong, hurt Blanco with a right hand early in the first round and seemed headed for a quick knockout. Blanco withstood that trouble and made their fight competitive at times.
Blanco connected with several hard right hands in the fourth round, but Sosa showed a reliable chin, too. He regained control of the fight in the fifth round and appeared to buzz Blanco with a right hand early in the sixth round.
Blanco was given time to recover from a low blow in the seventh round. He came back from that break and traded punches with Sosa toward the end of the seventh round.
