Photos: Josue Veraza Stuns Romulo Koasicha in Big Upset

By Francisco Salazar

Josue Veraza may have been an underdog entering his clash against Romulo Koasicha Friday night, but he fought the way a favorite should.

Veraza won a hard-fought 10 round unanimous decision over the former world title challenger at the Auditorio Blackberry in Mexico City.

With the victory, Veraza improves to 19-8-2, with 14 KOs. Koasicha has now lost his last three fights and falls to 25-7-2, with 15 KOs.

Veraza entered Friday's clash having won three of his previous five bouts. Koasicha lost to then-WBO featherweight titleholder Vasyl Lomachenko by knockout in November of 2015 and, most recently, lost to Orlando Cruz by decision in March of last year.

After an even opening round, the action opened up in the second round. Koasicha stunned Veraza momentarily with a combination, but was dropped by a left hook by Veraza moments later. Later in the round, a left hook stunned Veraza, but Koasicha was not able to follow up.

Veraza was at his best when he initiated exchanges during the first half of the fight. Midway through the fight, sensing he was down on the scorecards, Koasicha boxed effectively from the outside, scoring with right hands to the head.

It was Veraza who controlled the final two rounds of the fight, beating Koasicha to the punch and scoring to the body.

The scorecards of 99-90, 99-90, and 98-91 for Veraza did not reflect the competitiveness of the fight. Boxingscene.com scored the fight 95-94 for Veraza.

"I'm very pleased with my performance because all of the hard work we put in is worth it," said Veraza after the fight. "Koasicha is a strong fighter and I felt his punches, but we trained very hard to win this fight."

In an action fight that had ebb and flow, junior welterweight Rodrigo Gonzalez (3-0-1, with 1 KO) won a unanimous decision over Luis Alberto Huilot (8-7, with 3 KOs).

Middleweight Mario Alberto Garcia (1-5, with 1 KO) dropped Ulises Banda (0-2) twice en route to a first round technical knockout.

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