By Francisco Salazar

Fringe lightweight contender Marcos Villasana won a 12 round split decision over Pablo Vicente Saturday night at the Centro de Convenciones Azul in Ixtapa Zihuatanejo, Guerrero, Mexico.

After a cautious opening couple of rounds, both fighters began letting their hands go in round three. Vicente, who entered the bout unbeaten, was able to walk Villasana down, connecting with lead and counter overhand right hands to the head.

The pace of the fight slowed down during the middle rounds, which favored Villasana.

Vicente was deducted a point from referee Cesar Castanon early in round eight for throwing and landing a right hand to the back of Villasana.

Both fighters connected during the second half of the fight, which got sloppy at times. Vicente was again deducted a point in round 10, this time for pulling down the head of Villasana and throwing an uppercut.

During the final two rounds, both fighters had their moments, but Villasana was able to grind out the decision win. One judge scored the bout 114-113 for Vicente, the other two judges scored the bout 115-112 and 114-112.

Villasana (23-6, 13 knockouts), who resides in nearby Acapulco, has won his last eight bouts. Vicente, who is originally from Cuba and now resides in Panama City, drops to 12-1, 10 KOs.

Junior featherweight Aaron Alameda (23-0, 11 KOs) remained unbeaten with an eight round split decision victory over Salvador Juarez.

Referee Cesar Castanon deducted a point from Juarez for having his mouthpiece repeatedly come out of his mouth. One judge scored the bout in favor of Juarez, while the other two judges scored the bout for Alameda, who resides in the border town of Nogales, Sonora, Mexico.

Juarez, who resides in Mexico City, drops to 12-6-2, 3 KOs.

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.  He can be reached by email at santio89@yahoo.com or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing