By Ryan Burton
LAS VEGAS - Junior welterweight contender Ashley Theophane was ringside for the fourth installment of Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) TOE-TO-TOE TUESDAYS on FS1 and BOXEO DE CAMPEONES on FOX Deportes which lived up to its name with a fast-paced all out main event between bantamweights Alexis Santiago (21-3-1, 8 KOs) of Phoenix and Erik Ruiz (15-5, 6 KOs) of Oxnard, CA. Both fighters exchanged back and forth punches throughout the bout, keeping fans at Sam's Town Live entertained until the final bell. The bout, which went the full 10 rounds, resulted in a unanimous decision victory in favor of Santiago as the judges saw it 100-90, 99-91 and 98-92.
Santiago entered the ring very confident as he was riding a nine-fight winning streak, but Ruiz relished his underdog role as he stood in the middle of the ring going toe-to-toe with Santiago from the first bell. Both fighters used their full arsenals, throwing jabs, upper cuts and significant body shots from start to finish. Santiago applied pressure with his jab, but Ruiz did not look phased as he did his best to counter and throw hard and fast combinations. The lightning quick speed of the two pugilists saw over 1,500 punches thrown combined throughout the fight with Santiago throwing 941 and Ruiz throwing 624.
Fresh off his two-week European Victory Tour, president of Mayweather Promotions Floyd Mayweather was seen ringside as he rooted for his fighters featured on the card. The fight was called by PBC on FS1 fixture Brian Custer who was joined by former welterweight world champion Shawn Porter and his father Kenny. Porter provided his expert first-hand knowledge of the sweet science as he and his trainer/father took a break from preparing for his March 12 SHOWTIME Championship Boxing on CBS presented by PBC mega-fight against welterweight champion Keith Thurman.
Light heavyweight Lionell Thompson (16-4, 10 KOs) of Buffalo, NY made his Mayweather Promotions debut in a tight eight-round bout against Paul Parker (8-1, 4 KOs) of Toledo, OH. Following a close first round, Parker began to outwork Thompson, throwing more punches as he utilized his significant height and reach advantage. The action picked up in the third round when Parker threw a hard right hand that caused Thompson to touch the canvas with his glove that was ruled a knockdown by referee Jay Nady. As the fight progressed, Thompson picked up his pace, forcing Parker to step in and exchange. While the fight went the distance, the third-round knockdown was the difference on the judges' scorecards, awarding Parker a close split decision with scores of 76-75 twice and 76-75 for Thompson.
This installment of PBC's TOE-TO-TOE TUESDAYS on FS1 and BOXEO DE CAMPEONES on FOX Deportes was promoted by Mayweather Promotions and sponsored by Corona.
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