By Jake Donovan

Mario Barrios moved to within one win of competing for a major title, but it was a painfully dull 12-round journey in getting to the #2 spot after dominating Devis Boschiero in their  Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) on ESPN-televised main event Saturday evening at Sun National Bank Center in Trenton, New Jersey.

Scores were 120-107 across the board in favor of Barrios, who scored a knockdown in the 12th and final round but otherwise settled for a paint-by-the-numbers win over an opponent unwilling to engage.

The main event was delayed by 20 minutes due to thunderstorms in the area wreaking havoc on the network signal. Given what took place, viewers would have been better off with the switch to Sportcenter or just springing for the Pay-Per-View price of admission for UFC 200. 

Barrios is a promising prospect from San Antonio who has enjoyed far more fan friendly performances every other time he's stepped in the ring as a pro boxer. He also enjoyed a massive height (6'1" to Boschiero's 5'5") and reach advantage, but only resulted in the entire fight being spent at beyond an arm length's distance.

Perhaps it was the step up in class or merely what was at stake - the bout was for the #2 ranking in the International Boxing Federation (IBF) super featherweight division - but the 21-year old was tentative in his attack, outworking the visiting Italian boxer but not landing very much.

It mattered little, as Boschiero was just happy to be there. Having advanced to a final eliminator less than a year ago, the squat 34-year old was content with darting around the ring and avoiding any incoming whatsoever, all while forgetting to throw any punches in return. 

A glimmer of hope for some action was provided in round two when Barrios stepped up his attack, pinning Boschiero along the ropes and repeatedly scoring with left hooks to the body and right hands upstairs. Unfortunately, that level of aggression didn't resurface until the 12th and final round.

The fight well in the bank by that point, Barrios planted his feet and connected with a picture-perfect left uppercut that caused a delayed-reaction knockdown. Boschiero did his best to remain upright, but his right knee eventually gave in and touched the canvas, prompting referee David Fields to issue a mandatory eight count. 

Every other round was littered with pawing and posing, prompting the sparse crowd in attendance to rain down boos. 

Regardless, it was enough to move Barrios one step closer towards title contention. He moves to 16-0 (8KOs), though truthfully could stand to return to a rate of activity against stay-busy level opposition before being moved into a final eliminator. 

Boschiero continues his run of falling short when anything of note is at stake. Ten months after suffering a knockout loss to Stephen Smith in their title eliminator, he concedes defeat without putting up a fight as he falls to 39-5-1 (21KOs). 

UNDERCARD

Eddie Ramirez easily cruised to a 10-round unanimous decision over Jessie Roman in the evening's co-feature attraction.

Scores were 99-91 (twice) and 98-92 favor of Ramirez, a 24-year old super lightweight prospect from Aurora, Illinois. 

Roman - who took the fight on roughly 10 days notice (or so it was repeated throughout the telecast by ESPN color commentator Teddy Atlas) - was marginally competitive in the early going and gave an earnest effort throughout the 10-round affair. Ramirez was just on another level skill-wise, thoroughly outboxing the veteran boxer from California and more than doubling his opponent's punch output.

There were several times in the second half of the contest where Ramirez appeared to be on the verge of a stoppage win. Roman managed to withstand and at times throw back just enough to remind referee David Fields that he was capable of making it to the finish line. 

Once there, a lopsided decision awaited the 25-year old Roman, who falls to 20-3 (9KOs). 

Ramirez - who turned pro in Nov. '13 - improves to 14-0 (10KOs) while enjoying a successful TV debut.

Jake Donovan is the managing editor of BoxingScene.com. Follow his shiny new Twitter account: @JakeNDaBox_v2