By Francisco Salazar

Two welterweight contenders hoping to enter legit contender status instead gave fight fans a competitive bout that ended in a draw.

Thomas Lamanna and Gabriel Bracero fought to a 10 round split decision draw late Saturday night at the Showboat Hotel in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

It was a fight that had numerous ebbs-and-flows. Lamanna used a six-inch height advantage to rain combinations down onto Bracero, who found success getting on the inside and attacking the body.

The action opened up during the final three rounds, where both fighters exchanged combinations to the head and body until the final bell.

One judge scored the bout 98-92 for Lamanna, another judge scored the bout 97-93 for Bracero, while the third judge scored the bout 95-95.

Lamanna (25-2-1, 9 knockouts), who resides in nearby Millville, had won his previous four bouts since a decision loss to Dusty Hernandez Harrison in September of 2016. Bracero (24-3-1, 5 KOs) had not fought since a decision loss to Paulie Malignaggi in July of 2016 in an all-Brooklyn clash.

In an eight round bout, junior middleweight Tommy Rainone (26-8-3, 6 KOs) and veteran Eduardo Flores of Ecuador fought to a split decision draw.

One judge scored the bout 78-74 for Rainone, another judge scored the bout 77-75 for Flores (26-29-4, 15 KOs), while the third judge turned in a 76-76 scorecard.

Cruiserweight Alvin Varmall, Jr. won a one-sided six round decision over Larry Pryor (10-19, 5 KOs). Scores were 60-53, 60-53, and 60-54 for Varmall, who improves to (15-0-1, 12 KOs).

In cruiserweight action, Frederic Julan (9-0, 7 KOs) stopped Edgar Perez (7-24, 3 KOs) after the third round.

Francisco A. Salazar has written for Boxingscene.com since September of 2012 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (Calif.) Star newspaper, RingTV.com, and FightNights.com. He can be reached by email at FSalazarBoxing and on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing