By Mark Vester
At Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, welterweight Mike Jones (23-0, 18 KOs) got the toughest win of his career with a majority ten round decision over Jesus Soto-Karass (24-5-3, 16 KOs). Jones retains his NABA, WBO NABO and WBC Contental Americas titles. The scores were 94-94 for the draw, 95-94 and 97-93 for Jones.
Jones started well in the first. In the second, Jones really let his hands go in the final minute. He was unloading punches on Soto-Karass with both hands and beating on him against the ropes. A cut opened up above the right eye of Soto-Karass, who came back in the final tens econds as they traded shots.
The third round started with both fighters trading shots. Soto-Karass took the fight to Jones, who was tired from throwing a heavy amount of punches in the previous round. Soto-Karass was cut in the third and at this point was bleeding above both eyes. Jones still seemed tired in the fourth, which allowed Soto-Karass to dominate the action. The fifth round was more of the same in favor of Soto-Karass.
The next couple of rounds were close. Soto-Karass continued to take the fight to Jones. The Philadelphia boxer was fighting back with counters and staying on the backfoot. A cut opened up above the right eye of Jones in the ninth round. Jones stayed with the counters in the tenth. Jones was landing good punches as they traded in the final ten seconds.
