By Richard Polen
Globe Sports Writer
MIAMI, Okla. —
Ashley Theophane scored a major decision and upset Delvin Rodriguez in one of two featured matches televised by ESPN2 Friday night at Buffalo Run Casino.
Rodriguez, who came into the fight as the No. 3-ranked welterweight contender by the International Boxing Federation, came up short in a fight that one judge scored 95-95 and the two other judges scored 96-94 in favor of Theophane.
“We bounced back big,” said Theophane, who is from the United Kingdom and is 27-4-1 with seven knockouts. “My jab was working. I say it’s one of the best in the business.”
In the first of two bouts televised live, Francisco Sierra of Mexico scored a technical decision over Donovan “Da Bomb” George of Chicago after seven rounds. One judge scored the fight 68-63, and the other two scored it 69-62, all in favor of Sierra.
Sierra, who already claimed the Mexican and Intercontinental titles, was awarded a North American boxing title in the super middleweight division.
“I was a little worried, but I trained really well and just put it to him,” Sierra said through his manager, Alfred Melchiorre.
“We were going to fight tomorrow night in Mexico, but we were offered the fight here,” Melchiorre said. “He’s 22 years old. He has been fighting grown men since he was 15.”
In preliminary bouts, Andy Lee of Detroit, Mich., knocked out James Cook of Springfield, Mo., in the fifth round, and Dannie Williams of St. Louis, Mo., scored a technical knock out in the second round against Steve Mincks, also of Springfield.
Theophane and Rodriguez exchanged jabs in the first two rounds, then Rodriguez connected with an overhand right early in the third round.
Theophane stung Rodriguez with a right hand early in Round 5, and the two had a sharp exchange along the ropes as the round ended. Rodriguez was the aggressor in the sixth round but Theophane eluded several of his punches and connected with the jab before he landed an overhand right.
Theophane sent Rodriguez into the ropes with a combination in Round 8, and both fighters exchanged flurries of punches in the 10th round and raised their gloves afterward in the belief that each had won.
“This is probably one of my worst nights,” Rodriguez said. “He was hitting me a lot behind the head, but I couldn’t do anything about that.
“I don’t know what’s next to tell you the truth.”
In the second round of the first fight on ESPN2, Sierra’s five-punch combination sent Donovan staggering backward into a neutral corner and bloodied Donovan’s nose as the round ended.
A left-right combination in the fourth round again bloodied Donovan’s nose, but Donovan responded by going to the jab and scored with a combination of punches in the fifth round.
By Round 6, Sierra had opened a cut on Donovan’s left cheek. Sierra dropped Donovan with about 30 seconds left in seventh round and again as the bell sounded.
“Some of the best fighters in the world have lost a fight,” Donovan’s manager, Mike Michaels, told him after the bout. “We’ll come back from this.
The loss was Donovan’s first in 22 fights, which includes one draw and 17 knockouts. Sierra is 22-3 with 20 knockouts.
“George got caught with a punch in the second round,” Michaels said. “The best lose and the best come back.”
