Bantamweight Michael Angeletti is one step closer to title contention after a unanimous decision win over Eros Correa in the main event of a ProBox TV card Saturday from the Boeing Center at Tech Port in San Antonio.
The three scores for the bout were 99-91 across the board.
Angeletti, a 28-year-old from Spring, Texas, started quickly by using his jab and establishing his distance. In the second round, Correa began to have some success applying pressure and getting inside. Control shifted back to Angeletti, who began using his reach advantage in the third. Angeletti is only 2ins taller than Correa, a 32-year-old from San Jose, California, but he holds a 6ins reach advantage, which he exploited all night.
The piston jab of Angeletti fired away in the fourth, keeping Correa at bay. Angeletti was able to sharpshoot from the outside, allowing him to land the more effective punches. The pattern continued in the fifth round, with Angeletti controlling the distance for the majority of the round.
Correa began to take chances in the sixth, when the fighters had their most active exchanges of the bout. The pace slowed in the seventh, with Angeletti landing the flashier shots.
Angeletti found a rhythm and distance that benefited him in the eighth, maintaining control of the fight, and in the ninth he dictated the action with his jab. Angeletti pressed forward in the final round, landing his best combination of the fight – a series of straight punches with speed capped off by a left hook that dazed Correa. At the end of the bout, after a brilliant performance, Angeletti raised his hand in victory.
Angeletti is now 14-0 (8 KOs) and ranked No. 15 by the IBF. Correa dropped to 15-2 (9 KOs) and saw his five-fight win streak come to an end.
The original main event between lightweight Justin Pauldo and Juan Carlos Burgos was canceled the day before when Pauldo couldn’t make the contracted weight. The two teams couldn’t come to terms for the bout to continue.
Lucas Ketelle is the author of “Inside the Ropes of Boxing,” a guide for young fighters, a writer for BoxingScene and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Find him on X at @BigDogLukie.