Junior middleweight Cesar Francis continues his ascent.

Francis, a Brooklyn-based Panamanian, remained undefeated after collecting a unanimous 8-round points win over previously undefeated Jose Roman of Puerto Rico on the undercard of the Cletus Seldin-William Silva TrillerVerz main event at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

All three judges scored the bout for Francis, with scores of 78-73, 78-73, and 79-72.

After a nip-and-tuck first three rounds, Francis, who improves to 9-0, with six knockouts, separated himself from his adversary in the fourth round, when he dropped the Puerto Rican with a hard body shot. Roman never really recovered from that blow. From that point on, Francis was in control, although he neglected to try for a stoppage.

The bout heated up beginning in the third round. Early on, Francis cracked Roman with a clean one-two. However, Roman would answer back, particularly in the final moments, when he landed a clean combination on Francis.

Francis turned it up in the fourth round. With about a minute-and-a-half to go, Francis cracked Roman with a counter right hand to Roman’s right flank, forcing Roman to start retreating. Moments later, Francis put Roman down with a combination for the lone knockdown in the fight. After Roman heeded the referee’s eight count, Francis pounced on his prey, landing a hard left hand. Roman, however, was able to hang on until the end of the round.

In the fifth round, Francis took his foot of the gas pedal, allowing Roman to recover.

In the sixth, Francis hurt Roman yet again with another overhand right followed by a left to the body. With thirty seconds remaining, Francis connected on a strafing right hand on Roman.

In the seventh round, the fight cooled off. Roman managed to land a combination, while Francis worked behind his jab.

Francis finished strong in the eight and final round, drilling Roman with a straight right.

Roman drops to 11-1, with five knockouts.