Chavez Jr outpoints Vera, Salido edges Lomachenko
Julio Cesar Chavez Jr (48-1-1) unanimously outpointed Bryan Vera (23-8) in a super middleweight rematch on Saturday night at the Alamodome, in San Antonio, Texas, USA.
After showing up overweight in their last fight, Chavez was in much better condition and produced a much better performance as he won a convincing points decision by scores of 117-110, 117-110 and 114-113.
Both men fired in big bombs as they battled it out for 12 rounds, but Chavez's right hand never stopped landing.
He landed several in the third round, rocking Vera along the ropes and It was that punch that had Vera in trouble in the seventh round.
In the eighth round, referee Rafael Ramos deducted a point from Vera for pushing Chavez's head down.
The Mexican badly hurt Vera in the 11th round, landing a left and a flush right that staggered him in the middle of the ring. But Vera has a huge heart and managed to stay on his feet until the final bell.
"It was a better fight this time," Chavez said. "I won clearly. I threw a lot more punches. I proved I'm a better fighter than Vera.
"I hurt him, but I hurt my hand and I decided to keep my distance because he's a very dangerous fighter. I gave a good fight, this was a better version of myself but I will give more for the people."
Also on the card, Olympic champion Vasyl Lomachenko (1-1) was narrowly beaten on a split points decision by Orlando Salido (41-12-2) in his attempt to win the WBO featherweight title in just his second professional fight.
The final judges scores were 115-113 for Lomachenko, and 116-112, and 115-113 for Salido.
Lomachenko began patiently before he started to let his combinations go in the third round but Salido went hard to the body to try and slow Lomachenko down. Salido was warned by referee Laurence Cole for hitting Lomachenko after the bell ended the fourth round.
The Ukrainian landed a solid right hand to Salido's head in the sixth round, but the Mexican took it well. Salido continued to work the body forcing Lomachenko to clinch often. A lot of Salido’s body shots strayed low, but Cole warned him only once and did not seem too concerned, and Lomachenko didn't complain.
Salido appeared to hurt Lomachenko with a body shot in the 10th round and pile up a lead going into the 11th.
Lomachenko, clearly believing he needed the final round, came out firing and hurt Salido with hard shots to the head and body, and he battered him for the entire round. But Salido did a good job of surviving the round.
Salido failed to make weight for the fight, having already decided this would be his last bout at 126 pounds, so the title will become vacant.