By Cliff Rold

Arriving in the best shape he’s been in since 2013, and fighting with tenacity for all ten rounds, 27-year old welterweight Pablo Cesar Cano (30-5-1, 21 KO), 143 ½, of Atizapan de Zaragoza, Mexico, came up with a career saving split decision win on Friday night at the Fantasy Springs Casino in Indio, California, over 36-year old Maurico Herrera (22-7, 7 KO), 142 ¾, of Riverside, California.

Both men are former title challengers, Herrera at Jr. welterweight and Cano at welterweight and Jr. welterweight. Herrera loses for the fourth time in his last six fights including controversial defeats to Danny Garcia and Jose Benavidez.

The referee was Ray Corona.

Cano used a pressing attack for much of the night to outwork the crafty Herrera. Herrera, rolling and sliding with his attacks, kept himself in the fight but simply couldn’t keep up with the output of Cano. Cano’s tactics worked against him to do as much to keep Herrera in the fight as his opponent, losing points in the fourth and eight for low blows. It was enough to get one scorecard in at 95-93 Herrera only to be overruled at 97-91 twice in favor of Cano.

Cano rebounds from a decision loss in his last fight to Alan Sanchez. Herrera drops his second straight since moving into the welterweight division. Lacking power, Herrera appears outgunned above the 140 lb. limit and, at 36, may be faced with some tough career decisions in the near future.

26-year old welterweight prospect KeAndre Gibson (16-0-1, 7 KO), 146 ¼, of St. Louis, Missouri, got him some solid work over eight rounds, earning a unanimous decision over 27-year old Mahory Montes (32-6-1, 22 KO), 146 ¼, of Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico. Gibson, quicker and more accurate throughout, controlled the bulk of the action. His left hook was a steady weapon at range and in close quarters where Montes was able to make a better fight of it. Better wasn’t nearly good enough with scores coming in at 77-74, 78-73, and 79-72, all for Gibson. The referee was Edward Hernandez Sr.

33-year old super middleweight prospect Morgan Fitch (18-0-1, 8 KO), 163 ½, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, kept his undefeated mark in six-round action with a majority decision over 36-year old Travis Scott (19-2, 5 KO), 163 ½, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. It wasn’t a thrilling affair, Scott electing to move and elude the punches of Fitch without much fire in return. It was enough for the more aggressive Fitch to get scores of 59-55 and 58-56 for the win with one judge coming in at 57-57 all.

The card was streamed in the US via RingTV.com, promoted by Golden Boy.

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