At the Principality Stadium, in Cardiff, the Manchester fighter Anthony Crolla moved a step-closer to another world title fight.
The popular Crolla, who lost his WBA world title to Jorge Linares but who came back to beat Ricky Burns last time out, was matched against Edson Ramirez.
In what was a scrappy fight, it was to be Crolla that was given the verdict, on the score-cards, with the judges scoring it:
? 100 ? 91
? 100 ? 90
and
? 98 ? 92
However, the fight was far from straight-forward for Crolla with the Manchester fighter picking up a nasty cut on his eye-lid, courtesy of a clash of heads, in round four.
With blood seeping out of the cut and into his eye, Crolla had to revise his game-plan.
Instead of mixing it up at close-quarters, he had to box on the back-foot, always aware that the referee was closely monitoring the damage to his eye, at one time calling for the advice of the ringside doctor.
But, Crolla used all his skills to keep Ramirez at bay and collect a comprehensive points victory.
However, it remains to be seen how long the cut will keep Crolla out of the ring as he looks towards a further attempt at a world title.
Crolla Beats Ramirez on Points
