Frank Stea
Puerto Rico’s Roman Martinez 25-1-1 (16KOs) won a
split decision over Mexico’s Miguel Beltran 27-1 (19KOs) in a war to win the
vacant WBO super-featherweight championship.
With large Mexican support behind him,
Beltran stalked Martinez in round one landing hard combinations. Martinez was shook by a hard right hand
delivered by Beltran in the closing seconds of the round.
Martinez walked Beltran down in the ropes
in round two landing some good shots in the round.
Both fighters mixed it up in round three and after a tie up, both fighters landed punches
to the back of each other’s head.
A nasty right hand by Beltran had Martinez
seemingly in trouble in round four, but Martinez used great head movement and defense to prevent any further
trouble to close out the round.
Juan Manuel Marquez
arrived in the building!! A thunderous chant for the Mexican superstar erupted
inside the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.
Both fighters traded very hard right hands
fighting on the ropes in round six.
Martinez was rocked at the end of the round but managed to hang in
there.
Round
six saw sensational action throughout. Beltran and Martinez stayed in front of one another and landed
bombs. Great fight at the midway
point. Round seven and eight saw
identical action to the previous round.
Martinez showed a tremendous chin in round
nine after eating a violent combo by Beltran. Both fighters are leaving it all inside the ring.
The pair showed some wear and tear in
round ten, although that didn’t stop them from
unleashing hell on one another. The
crowd is really enjoying this battle.
The referee penalized Beltran one point in
the first minute for repeated blows to the back of the head in round
eleven. That didn’t stop either fighter
from trading blows and beating each other up.
Round twelve picked up where round eleven
left off. Great action tonight by both warriors.
Score
were 116-111 Beltran, 115-113 Martinez, 114-113 Martinez. Winner Martinez