Activity and pressure enabled Juan Pablo Romero to remain unbeaten Thursday night in West Point, New York.
The junior welterweight prospect consistently out-worked Deiner Berrio in their 10-round bout and won a unanimous decision. Judges Mark Consentino, Allen Nace and Steve Weisfeld all favored Romero’s work rate and scored their fight for him the same way, 98-92.
Mexico’s Romero, 31, improved to 14-0 (9 KOs). Romero, who represented Mexico at the 2016 Summer Olympics, went the 10-round distance in a second straight bout.
Colombia’s Berrio (22-3-1, 13 KOs) fought for the first time since August 2019. He is 2-3 in his past five fights.
Their welterweight fight opened NBC Sports Network’s “Ring City USA” tripleheader from the United States Military Academy.
Well aware that he needed a knockout to win their one-sided bout, Berrio began the 10th round throwing hard shots at Romero. Berrio hadn’t been that aggressive to start a round since the second round, but Romero eventually stood his ground and fended off Berrio’s last-ditch effort.
Romero’s jab backed Berrio into the ropes with a minute on the clock in the ninth round. Berrio’s right landed to the side of Romero’s head just before the ninth round ended.
Berrio blasted Romero with a right hand that Romero took well with just under 20 seconds remaining in the eighth round. Romero’s activity seemingly won him that round, though, as he built a big lead on the scorecards.
A left-right combination by Romero landed with 45 seconds to go in the seventh round. A left uppercut and right hand by Berrio connected with just over 10 seconds to go in the seventh round.
Berrio mostly missed with several wide, wild punches in the seventh round.
Romero pressed the action again throughout the sixth round, when he threw a lot more punches than his opponent. Berrio did sneak in an effective left hook to the body with 25 seconds remaining in the sixth round, though that was about the only positive thing he did during that round.
Romero’s left hook landed with about 1:10 to go in the fifth round. Romero unloaded an eight-punch combination on a tiring Berrio in the final minute of the fifth round.
By then, Berrio’s lack of activity seemed
A straight right hand by Romero landed flush with just under 25 seconds to go in the fourth round. That punch initiated an exchange as the fourth round came to an end.
Earlier in the fourth, Berrio hit Romero with a right hand that landed to the side of his head.
Romero was busier again in the third round, but Berrio defended himself well, even as Romero backed him up. Berrio connected with a left hook just before the third round ended.
Berrio belted Romero with a counter left hook and followed up with a right hand with just under a minute to go in the second round. A left uppercut by Berrio rocked Romero just 15 seconds into that second round.
Between landing those two shots, Berrio’s left hook appeared to open a cut around Romero’s right eye in the second round.
Romero was the aggressor throughout the first round, but Berrio blocked a lot of his punches as he retreated in a defensive shell. Berrio caught Romero right an overhand right to the side of his head at the midway point of the opening round.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for krikya360.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
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