Henry Lebron knew he couldn’t squander the one opportunity that finally came his way.

Despite a willingness to take on all comers, the unbeaten Puerto Rican junior lightweight only recently landed the type of opponent that—with a win—could advance his career to the next stage. It was mission accomplished for the 26-year-old southpaw from Aguadilla, who earned a ten-round, majority decision over unbeaten William Foster last Saturday at Tahoe Blue Event Center in Stateline, Nevada.

“Big things are coming for 2024,” Lebron told BoxingScene.com. “The fight against Foster was a good projection, which is what I wanted. Top Rank was very pleased with my showing Saturday.”

Lebron (19-0, 10KOs) jumped out to an early lead and fended off a mid-fight rally by Foster, a rising prospect from New Haven, Connecticut with title aspirations of his own. His dreams are momentarily stalled, as Lebron surged late to preserve what should have been a clear-cut victory. Scores were a bit all over the place—judge Max De Luca (95-95) awarded five rounds apiece to each boxer. Judge Eric Cheek (96-94) had it one round wider and in favor of Lebron, who won big on the scorecard of judge David Sutherland (99-91).

The win was a second of a slow-moving but ultimately productive 2023 campaign. The hope now for ‘El Moncho’ is to find a way to carry over this momentum into the new year and perhaps land a title eliminator within his next couple of fights.

“I am happy with the result,” insisted Lebron, a six-year pro whose cousin Orlando ‘Capu’ Gonzalez is also a rising contender in the 130-pound division. “It was a good, interesting fight and I did what I expected to win by decision.”

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. X (Formerly Twitter): @JakeNDaBox