Pechanga Arena, San Diego – Puerto Rican prospect Henry Lebron remained undefeated by scoring a dominant unanimous decision win and a shutout over Rey Rojas on Friday night.
Lebron (14-0, 9 KOs) was awarded scores of 80-71 from all three judges in the eight-round junior lightweight bout against Rojas (21-6, 6 KOs) by connecting with flush punches all night.
Lebron landed 91 of 311 punches compared to 37 of 232 from Rojas. Lebron landed 31% of his punches and 41% of his power shots.
Rojas sported a two-inch height advantage and four-inch reach advantage, but the 24-year-old Lebron, who was fighting for the first time in 14 months, was unbothered by the physical disadvantage and ring rust.
The fight took place at a timid tempo to start, as both fighters threw one punch at a time as they tried to figure each other out. At the end of the second round, Rojas returned to his corner with a bruised left cheekbone as Lebron landed power counters.
Before the beginning of the fourth round, Rojas was instructed in his corner to rough up Lebron. But it was Lebron who did just that, as he picked up the pace of the action and chased Rojas around the ring by outboxing him.
The elusive southpaw Lebron showed superior footwork and was boxing circles around Rojas by the fifth.
Before the seventh round started, Lebron proclaimed that Rojas’ punching power was not affecting him in any way. But he never took any risks to score a knockout.
Lebron tried to dial up the offense in the final round, but a clash of heads in the last minute cut Rojas over the right eyebrow.
The victory was Rojas’ third straight eight-rounder that ended via unanimous decision.