LOS ANGELES – If Mario Barrios beat Batyr Akhmedov on Saturday night, he definitely didn’t convince much of the near-capacity crowd at Staples Center.

The crowd booed loudly when Jimmy Lennon Jr. announced Barrios as a unanimous-decision winner over Akhmedov in their 12-round, 140-pound title fight on the Errol Spence Jr.-Shawn Porter undercard. Barrios knocked down Akhmedov twice – once apiece in the fourth and 12th rounds – and beat Akhmedov by comfortable margins on two of the three scorecards.

Judge Jeremy Hayes scored seven of the 12 rounds for Barrios and one round even (116-111). Tim Cheatam credited Barrios for winning seven rounds as well (115-111), while Zachary Young scored six rounds apiece for Barrios and Akhmedov (114-112).

“The judges see better than I can from the ring,” Akhmedov said. “I did everything I could. I thought I won the fight. They decided that he won the fight. When I watch the fight, I’ll be able to tell you what it looked like. My job is to do everything to win. The judges are supposed to judge correctly.”

Akhmedov appeared to be in complete control of the second half of their bout before Barrios knocked him down again very late in the 12th round. Barrios drilled him with a straight right hand that made Akhmedov fall forward and touch the canvas with both gloves, which accounted his second knockdown of the fight.

Before Barrios dropped him a second time, Akhmedov’s persistent pressure kept Barrios on his back foot for much of the final eight rounds. Uzbekistan’s Akhmedov (7-1, 6 KOs) rocked Barrios with a right hand in the 10th round and caused swelling around Barrios’ left eye as well.

“I knew I had to win by a wide margin,” Akhmedov said. “The plan was to gradually grow the activity, but after the first knockdown I knew that I had to add more than I had planned. So, I started being more aggressive. I did everything I could to try to stop him.”

CompuBox credited Akhmedov with landing 103 more punches overall than Barrios (238-of-924 to 135-of-772). According to CompuBox, Akhmedov connected on more power punches (181-of-652 to 113-of-413) and jabs (57-of-272 to 22-of-359).

Nevertheless, San Antonio’s Barrios (25-0, 16 KOs) won a vacant version of the WBA’s 140-pound title. Barrios is now one of three champions the WBA recognizes in that division.

Regis Prograis is the WBA’s “super” world super lightweight champion. New Orleans’ Prograis (24-0, 20 KOs) is scheduled to face Scotland’s Josh Taylor (15-0, 12 KOs), the IBF junior welterweight champ, in the final of the World Boxing Super Series’ 140-pound tournament October 26 at O2 Arena in London.

Barrios entered the bout ranked No. 2 by the WBA, one spot ahead of Akhmedov. The WBA also has an interim champion at 140 pounds, the Dominican Republic’s Alberto Puello (17-0, 9 KOs).

Prior to Barrios regaining momentum late in the 12th round, Akhmedov was the aggressor and had landed the harder shots in the previous few rounds.

Sensing Barrios was still hurt from the 10th round, Akhmedov attacked at the beginning of the 11th round. He drilled Barrios with a straight left hand and kept Barrios on his back foot throughout that round.

Akhmedov wore down Barrios in the 10th round and hurt him with a straight left hand that wobbled Barrios toward the end of it. Barrios moved away from Akhmedov after taking that shot and reached the end of the 10th round.

Barrios caught Akhmedov with two right hands when there was about a minute to go in the ninth round. Cantu warned both boxers later in the ninth for throwing low blows.

Akhmedov kept bringing the fight to Barrios in the eighth round. Barrios couldn’t keep Akhmedov off him and wasn’t landing by that point in the fight the way he had earlier in it.

Akhmedov caught Barrios with two right hooks just before the seventh round ended.

Akhmedov kept Barrios on his back foot for much of the sixth round and landed the cleaner, more effective punches during those three minutes. Akhmedov landed two hard, straight left hands on a backpedaling Barrios just before the end of the fifth round.

Barely 30 seconds into the fourth round, a left hook by Barrios buzzed Akhmedov, whose gloves touched the canvas as he leaned forward. Cantu correctly counted that as a knockdown, but Akhmedov seemed stable once the action resumed.

Barrios and Akhmedov traded hard shots later in the fourth round. With just under 30 seconds to go in the fourth, Akhmedov blasted Barrios with a straight left hand and then a right hook, which made Barrios backpedal.

Barrios tried landing right hands to Akhmedov’s body throughout the first round. Akhmedov connected with a straight left hand to Barrios’ head that he took well. 

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.