LAS VEGAS – Abel Ramos seemingly continued his slow climb back toward a welterweight title shot Saturday.

Then Jimmy Lennon Jr. read the scores of three judges who saw Lucas Santamaria as the winner over the heavily favored Ramos. Judges Dave Moretti and Patricia Morse Jarman both scored Santamaria, a late replacement for Josesito Lopez, a 96-94 victor versus the more aggressive, accurate Ramos in their 10-round welterweight fight at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino’s Michelob ULTRA Arena.

Judge Lisa Giampa strangely scored eight of the 10 rounds for Santamaria, who was hurt several times by Ramos in a fight FOX aired as part of the Keith Thurman-Mario Barrios undercard. The 30-year-old Ramos’ surprising loss to Santamaria was the last fight on free TV before the card shifted to the FOX Sports Pay-Per-View platform for the final four fights.

Ramos (27-5-2, 21 KOs), of Casa Grande, Arizona, lost for the second time in his past three fights. Two fights earlier, he lost a 12-round split decision to Yordenis Ugas in a WBA world welterweight title fight in September 2020 at Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles.

Santamaria (13-2-1, 7 KOs), of Garden Grove, California, officially recorded the most noteworthy win of his six-year pro career. He replaced Ramos’ original opponent, Lopez, on less than two weeks’ notice once Lopez contracted COVID-19.

Ramos seemed to be in complete control, even though he faded somewhat toward the end of their fight.

Santamaria seemingly survived round after round during the second half of their bout, but he didn’t do much damage to his aggressive opponent. Ramos tried his best to get the knockout, but Santamaria craftily moved and held his way to the final bell.

Ramos did drill Santamaria with a left hook in the ninth round that knocked him backward, but Santamaria managed to survive that troublesome moment, too.

Ramos kept Santamaria on his back foot throughout a one-side fourth round in which Santamaria fought from a southpaw stance to try to confuse Ramos.

Santamaria managed to make the third round competitive, but Ramos drilled him with a right hand toward the end of it that buzzed him. Santamaria bobbed and weaved his way to the bell to end the second round, though.

Ramos buzzed Santamaria with a right hand early in the opening round. Santamaria maintained his composure, though, and counteracted Ramos’ aggression with his jab and movement.

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.