Thanks to the referee and two blind judges Juan Carlos Payano retained his WBA bantamweight title over Rau'Shee Warren.
This was one of the most questionable decision I've seen in a while. Two of the judges had the fight 113-111 for Payano. The other judge had it 115-109 for Warren. Ringside Reporter had the fight scored 115-109 for Warren.
Payano was deducted a point in the third round for hitting behind the head. This came as a shock to almost everyone because there were no warning given. Referee Frank Santore then took two points away from Warren in round nine for hitting Payano when he was down. Payano seemed to spend more time on the canvas and complaining to the referee than hitting Warren in this fight.
Payano's right eye was almost shut by round 9. The doctor was summoned to take a look at it and the fight looked to be in jeopardy for Payano. He was cleared to fight and was knocked down in the twelfth round of the fight with a combination by Warren. Rau'Shee Warren clearly won this fight.
In bout one of a WBC super middleweight tournament, John “The Rock” Jackson (19-2, 15 KOs) punished Dennis Laurente (49-5, 30 KOs) for ten rounds en route to a unanimous decision. Jackson dropped Laurente in round three and won 100-89 on all cards.
In bout two of the tournament, Jorge Cota (25-1, 22 KOs) won an exciting and hard fought ten round unanimous decision over Yudel Jhonson (17-2, 9 KOs). Johnson was deducted a point in round six for holding and hitting by referee Telis Assimenios. Cota scored knockdowns in rounds eight and nine. Scores were 95-92, 96-91, 96-91.
