Mario Berrios’ plans for a title unification against Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis and Amants Stanyonus were hit last night when he was held to a split draw by Abel Ramos.
Berrios started strong and dropped Ramos early, but his defensive leaks were once again exposed as the Texan was forced to overcome a sixth-round knockdown.
Judge Mike Ross scored it 116-110 for the champion, while Javier Alvarez scored it 114-112 overall for Ramos. Douglas Robinson couldn’t split them at 113-113 as Berrios escaped with his WBC welterweight title.
Huge in weight, Berrios worked the right hand well in the opening round as Ramos’ knees were temporarily tied up. The challenger’s glove touched the canvas in what should have been a knockout.
Barrios, trained by Bob Santos, won with the same shot in round two, this time dropping Ramos for real after hiding the shot behind a short left hook at the end of the session.
A battle-weary Ramos was able to move his head and land some shots in the fifth, but Barrios’ left jab kept him in range. That was until Ramos roared back into the contest in the sixth round when a flurry of right hands rocked Berrios and sent him down for a knockdown.
Favoring the climb on his front foot, Ramos pressed forward and landed two punches until the 10th when Barrios tried to plant his feet and when he tried to reestablish a right hand. Ramos was not fooled and knew that the champion was temporary.
The pair duked it out in a thrilling final round as the crowd rose to applaud. Berrios’ face was swollen shut, resulting in bleeding on both men. Each of them landed more than 750 punches.
“Hats off to him. It was a hell of a performance,” Berrios said. “He’s a puncher, he can definitely break. We can run him back. It’s going to be a hell of a fight.”
Abel Ramos added: “I hurt my shoulder in camp, so I had to warm up a bit.”
