By Rick Reeno

MGM Grand, Las Vegas - In a high stakes junior welterweight battle, former champion Humberto Soto (65-8-2, 35KOs) won a ten round unanimous decision over John Molina (27-5, 22KOs). The scores were 96-91, 95-92, 95-92.

Soto was more active in the first, letting his hands go and had Molina on the defensive. The second round saw Molina stand his ground and they went to war at close range. Both were landing big punches without taking a step back. At the end of the third, they continued to trade after the bell and Soto went down, on a late reaction, to a punch. The referee obviously did not count that as a knockdown.

After two close rounds, Molina lost a point in the sixth for a low blow. It was Molina's second low blow of the night. Molina was landing hard shots in the seventh, with Soto taking them all and continued to come forward. But during that round, Molina once again landed a hard low blow that sent Soto down and referee Jay Nady took away another point. Once Nady resumed the action, they were trading bombs for the final ten seconds.

During the eight, Soto landed a hard low blow of his own that sent Molina down in the final ten seconds. And when Nady restarted the action, they once again brawled well after the bell. Soto was putting some hurt on Molina in the ninth with shots to the body. Molina claimed the shows were low, but Nady disagreed.

In the tenth, it was Soto who lost a point for straying low but he managed to outwork Molina during most of the three minutes.