Abner Cotto (18-2, 8 KOs) outworked and outmuscled Jerry Belmontes (19-5, 5 KOs) en route to a split decision victory at the American Bank Center in Corpus Christi, Texas.
The 10-round Super Featherweight fight was the main event of a card presented by Golden Boy Promotions, Leija Battah Promotions and Fox Sports.
After a tough split decision loss to Omar Figueroa in April, Belmontes sought to use his hometown advantage to make a comeback and to set his career back on track.
It seemed as if the 25-year-old Corpus Christi, Texas native was on his way to doing so, outboxing Cotto in the first two rounds by using his distance to land jabs and one-two combinations.
Cotto, however, who has also suffered a loss to Figueroa, was much stronger and busier on the inside, landing powerful hooks and right hands on Belmontes.
Belmontes slipped and rolled many punches, but allowed Cotto to tee off on many occasions with almost complete clemency, failing to counterpunch Cotto enough to win the middle and later rounds.
In the sixth round, Belmontes returned to his early gameplan, boxing on the outside to once again land jabs and one-two combinations.
Belmontes, however, erroneously chose to work on the inside in the later rounds, allowing Cotto land several more punches and outpointing Belmontes into the final round.
One judge scored the bout 95-94 for Belmontes, while another two scored the bout 95-94 and 96-93 for the 26-year-old Puerto Rican.
Total war in the co-feature @KeAndreGibson v Jose Hernandez! Both landing lots of body shots @FOXSports1@FOXDeportespic.twitter.com/tgxJkvYluB
— GoldenBoyPromotions (@GoldenBoyBoxing) August 8, 2014
In the co-main event, Keandre Gibson (11-0-1, 5 KOs) scored a split decision victory over Jose Hernandez (14-8-1, 5 KOs) in an eight-round Welterweight fight.
Gibson, an athletic 24-year-old St. Louis, Missouri native, boxed with the confidence earned after having sparred with the likes of Saul Alvarez and Manny Pacquaio.
Gibson used quick left hands and footwork to outbox Hernandez in the early rounds.
Hernandez, 27, who is from Fort Worth, Texas and has boxed as a professional for 10 years, took Gibson’s punches well, but was clearly slower and less talented than Gibson.
Gibson worked on the inside for the middle rounds, which allowed Hernandez to land hooks on his own, but Gibson was urged by his corner to return to the jab and footwork that made him successful in rounds one and two.
Gibson would then go on to land jabs, right hands, and left hooks to the body into the eighth and final round.
Judge Don Griffin scored the bout 75-77 for Hernandez, while judges Ruben Carrion and Lucy Rogers scored the bout for Gibson with scores of 79-73 and 78-74 respectively.
In the first televised bout, Oscar Cantu (8-1, 1 KO) scored unanimous decision victory over Joseph Rios (13-9-2, 4 KOs) in a six-round Bantamweight fight.
Cantu, a 23-year-old Kingsville, Texas native, was the more active and accurate of the two fighters, outpointing and outjabbing Rios in nearly every round.
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