In a bout for the vacant WBA junior bantamweight belt, Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez won on a 12-round unanimous points decision over former champion Carlos Cuadras (39-5-1; 27) at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona on Saturday night.
Rodriguez (15-0; 10) came in as a late substitute after Srisaket Sor Rungvisai withdrew due to illness.
The scores were 117-110 twice and 115-112.
On the same card, WBA female bantamweight champion Jamie Mitchell (8-0-2; 5) stopped Carly Skelly (4-1-1; 0) in the fourth round. Time was 1:32.
THURMAN IS BACK
Keith Thurman (30-1; 22) returned to action after 31 months to score an impressive 12-round unanimous points decision over Mario Barios on Saturday night inside the Michelob ULTRA Arena at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas.
Thurman was in control from the opening bell to win with scores of 118-110 twice and 117-111.
Thurman improved his record to 30-1; 22 and Barrios’ record dropped to 26-2; 17.
UNDERCARD
WBA featherweight champion Leo “El Terremoto” Santa Cruz (38-2-1; 19) was most impressive in scoring a wide 10-round unanimous points decision over Keenan Carbajal (23-3-1; 15) in a non-title bout. All three judges scored it 100-90.
In a junior middleweight contest, Jesus “Mono” Ramos (18-0; 15) stopped Vladimir Hernandez (13-5; 6) in the sixth round.
Former two-division world champion Luis “Pantera” Nery (32-1; 24) won on a 10-round split decision over Carlos Castro (27-1; 12) in a junior featherweight contest. The scores were 96-93 and 95-94 for Nery and 95-94 for Castro.
EUBANK JR WINS
Middleweight Chris Eubank Jr (32-2; 23), who is listed at number six by the WBA and WBC, won on a 12-round unanimous points decision over Liam Williams (23-4-1; 18) on Saturday night at the Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff, Wales.
Eubank scored knockdowns in rounds one, two, four and 11. The scores were 117-109, 116-109 and 116-108.
On the same card, Olympic female gold medallist Claressa Shields (12-0; 2) retained her WBA, WBC and IBF middleweight belts with a 10-round unanimous points decision over Ema Kozin (21-1-1; 11). The scores were 100-90 on all three judges’ scorecards.
Heavyweight Otto Wallin (23-1; 14) won on points over eight rounds against Kamil Sokolowski (11-25-2; 4) with a score of 79-74. In a welterweight bout, Chris "Rock ‘n’ Rolla" Jenkins (22-4-3; 8) won on an eight-round points decision over 38-year-old Namibian Julius Indongo (23-5; 12). The score was 78-75.