By: Christopher Roche

Under the watchful eye of Golden Boy East Chief Bernard Hopkins, and the tutelage of Floyd Mayweather, Sr., Joan Guzman showed flashes of brilliance in a unanimous decision over tough Humberto Soto.

Guzman and Soto basically split the early rounds, as Soto effectively worked Guzman’s body, but as the fight wore on, Guzman’s speed and defensive prowess slowed Soto down. Guzman worked in counter shots, and he covered up his body with his elbows and gloves while dodging most head bullets.

Soto, 27, of Tijuana, was riding a 20 fight winning streak, but the 31 year-old Guzman of the Dominican Republic, was more determined and too athletic. In the closing rounds, Guzman showed the swagger that comes with being undefeated, as he mildly taunted Soto and played to the crowd.

Despite his elusiveness, Guzman did eat some hard shots from Soto, but they were generally one shot at a time or two punch combinations. Guzman showed a strong chin as he was never visibly hurt. With the victory, Guzman improved to 28-0, 17 KO’s while Soto dropped to 43-6-2, 27 KO’s. The scores were 117-111 twice and 118-110 all for Guzman in front of a packed house at the Borgata. Guzman retained the WBO Junior Lightweight Title.

Co-Feature

Hot Bantamweight prospect Abner Mares found himself in a bloody battle with Argentina’s Damien Marchiano, but Mares ultimately prevailed with a unanimous decision victory.

Marchiano bloodied Mares and landed many action-packed combinations, but Mares hung tough and showed experience beyond his young age of 21. Mares appeared to stagger Marchiano at the end of round two, but Marchiano proved his mettle and surprised the audience with his gutsy performance.

Mares, of Guadalajara, improved to 15-0, 9 KO’s while Marchiano fell to 14-3-1, 5 KO’s. Despite the scores being accurate, they were not indicative of how difficult the fight was for Mares, and they came back 118-109 twice and 117-109.