By Jake Donovan

Raul Garcia Hirales’ road trip ended in disaster, as Jesus Geles overcame a slow start to rally back late and take a questionable split decision in their 12-round junior flyweight bout Saturday evening at the Coliseo Bernardo Caraballo on Cartagena, Colombia.

Geles weighed in at the junior flyweight limit of 108 lb, while Hirales was slightly lighter at 107 ¾ lb for their TV Azteca-televised main event.

Hirales dictated the pace for the majority of the early rounds, standing toe to toe with the hometown challenger and unleashing a fierce body attack. Geles’ counterpunching style wasn’t serving him very well, as he was taking way too many punches before getting off his own shots, none of which were particularly effective.

Things grew a bit ugly in the fourth, when the first of several low blows throughout the bout would occur. Geles was all too willing to play up the severity of the shots, crumbling to the canvas and wincing in pain, though gaining little sympathy from impatient referee Hector Afu, who was anxious to move things along.

A headbutt and low blow sent Geles to the canvas in the fifth, this time taking a little longer to recover, despite urgings from the third man to get up and continue. The sixth round revealed why Geles sought to buy as much time as possible, as Hirales rocked the Colombian on two separate occasions in what was easily his best round to that point.

Hirales began to slow down in the seventh, as Geles enjoyed moments of success while fighting off the ropes. The challenger’s shot at momentum quickly dissolved after a swing and a miss on a left hook caused him to slip and fall on a slick ring logo in the corner, though the instance came just before the bell, leaving Hirales no time to capitalize.

The failure to seize the moment proved to be the Mexican southpaw’s undoing. Geles enjoyed his best stretch of the fight in controlling the real estate in the eighth and ninth rounds, creating a scenario where the judges could groove one past the visiting titlist.

Sensing disaster was pending, Hirales rallied back in the tenth, returning to his body attack while Geles had few answers.

It turned out that the hometown fighter was saving up for a strong finish, outworking in Hirales in the championship rounds. The effort was not lost on the judges, providing the margin of victory on two of the official scorecards (115-113), while a third judge had Hirales winning by the same score.

Geles scores a huge upset with the win as he advances to 12-1-1 (5KO). The Colombian earned the title shot after scoring a majority decision over faded former title challenger Omar Soto last October. That win coupled with Saturday’s results renders Geles as a sudden player in a richly talented 108 lb. division.

Hirales heads back to Mexico with a loss on his record for the first time since his fourth pro fight. His record falls to 15-2-1 (8KO) as he snaps a 13-fight win streak.

Jhonathan Romero remains unbeaten as a pro, easily turning away determined Mexican challenger Mario Macias in their ten-round co-feature.

Scores were 99-91 (twice) and 97-93 in a super bantamweight bout that was shortened from 12 rounds to ten in order to fit into the broadcast timeslot.

Romero was in control throughout, boxing circles around the visiting Macias for most of the night. The threat of a knockout never quite surfaced, although there was an anxious moment at the end of the fight to give the crowd one final thrill before the closing bell.

The win is by the far the biggest in the young career of Romero, who advances to 15-0 (10KO). The super bantamweight puts himself in position as a possible future challenger for unbeaten titlist Wilfredo Vazquez Jr, although the Colombian is a long way off from being ready for such a step up in class.

Macias heads back to Mexico with a second loss in his past three fights as his record falls to 22-7 (10KO). He earned the fight with an upset eight-round decision win over David Sanchez last November.

Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of Boxingscene.com. Follow Jake on Twitter at twitter.com/JakeNDaBox or submit questions/comments to JakeNDaBox@gmail.com.