Adelaida Ruiz was able to finish what she started this time around.

The 33-year-old single mother of three claimed the interim WBC junior bantamweight title following a ten-round, unanimous decision win over Sonia Osorio. Judges Julio Cesar Alvarado (100-90), Nicolas Valenzuela (98-92) and Sixto Rincon (99-91) all scored in favor of Ruiz in their interim title fight rematch Thursday evening at Ciudad Deportiva Heiner Ugalde in San Jose, Costa Rica.

Ruiz was in full control of the action, often keeping Osorio at the end of her long reach. The tactic was wise, considering their first fight last March 20 only went two rounds and ended in a technical draw. Osorio suffered a cut over her left eye from a clash of heads which led to the end of the fight that night.

It was a much cleaner affair in the rematch and all one way. Ruiz used her jab as a rangefinder, mostly for her straight right hand which caused fits for Mexico City’s Osorio. Ruiz rocked Osorio in the opening round, the closest either fighter came to hitting the canvas.

Open scoring revealed that Ruiz was ahead 40-36, 40-36 and 39-37 after four rounds. Osorio had plenty of motivation to intensify her attack, which she attempted in rounds five and six. Ruiz wisely played defense during those moments, riding out the storm before bringing the action back to center ring.

A clash of heads occurred in round seven, though neither fighter suffered any damage from the sequence. Ruiz connected with a right uppercut to snap back the head of Osorio and landed a sweeping right hand midway through round eight. Osorio spent most of the round breathing heavily as Ruiz caught her with a left hook to the body.

Ruiz was still well ahead on all three scorecards—80-72, 79-73 and 78-74—after eight rounds. The scores were announced after Osorio picked up the pace in round nine, enjoying brief moments of success but often buried by blinding Ruiz counters.

Ruiz didn’t sit on her lead, fighting with the same aggression in the tenth and final round as was the case at the start of the night. Osorio attempted a left hook, only for Ruiz to throw and land with the same weapon in return. Ruiz landed a jab and right hand, which Osorio (15-8-2, 4KOs) shook off as she buried her head and swung away in hopes of landing a miracle knockout blow. Ruiz avoided most of the incoming to remain upright and undefeated by fight’s end, along with moving into position to challenge for the full version of the WBC title. 

"I feel ecstatic. I am speechless," said Ruiz, who improves to 12-0-1, (6KOs). "I always read those quotes about how a small step is always a step closer to your dreams - and here I am living it.

“Nothing comes easy. I worked my ass off. But here I am living my dream.” 

The main event features local hero and IBF strawweight titlist Yokasta Valle (25-2, 9KOs) against WBO titlist Thi Thu Nhi Nguyen (5-0, 1KOs) of Vietnam in the first-ever unification bout to take place on Costa Rican soil.

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox