Nery Saguilan picked up the biggest win of his career to date, albeit in controversial fashion. The masked super lightweight fended off a late rally from former 140 lb. champ Demarcus Corley to claim a disputed unanimous decision Saturday evening in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.
Scores were 115-113 (twice) and 115-114 in favor of Saguilan, who has now emerged victorious in each of his last eight starts.
The start of the fight—which headlined on Televisa in Mexico—didn't sit well with WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman, who expressed his disgust over both fighters being permitted to receive final pre-fight instructions while wearing masks. Saguilan is known for donning facial garb, with Corley mocking the trend as he showed up in a plastic Halloween-style mask upon entering the ring.
The only mockery from that point onward was the final scorecards failing to reflect the fact that Corley delivered one of his best performances in years. The visiting ex-champion from Washington D.C. managed to turn back the clock, outboxing Saguilan to the point of making him look foolish at times.
Early discouragement set in when it was revealed through open scoring that Saguilan was up on two of the three scorecards, 39-37 (twice) and 38-38 through four rounds. Corley never let up, well-versed in playing the road warrior although Saturday's bout was his first in Mexico after having previously fought around the world through 19 years as a pro.
At no point did Corley show his age (41), in fact closing the fight strong, proving to the 27-year old Saguilan that youth is often wasted on the young.
His effort was for naught, as none of the three judges managed to turn in a scorecard in his favor. The final verdict will go down as one of the worst decisions of 2015 to date, but nevertheless a win for Saguilan, whose record advances to (34-4-1, 12KOs).
Corley suffers his second straight loss, falling to 42-24-1 (25KOs). The D.C. southpaw reigned as a super lightweight champion well over a decade ago.
Adrian Estrella bounced back from his first career defeat, dispatching Alex Monterrosa inside of four rounds. Estrella (23-1, 21KOs) battered the visiting Colombian before forcing him into submission at 1:41 of round four, coming up big in his first fight since an upset loss to Eden Sonsona in their super featherweight clash earlier this year.
Veteran spoiler Miguel 'Micky' Roman won his 14th straight fight, requiring little effort in stopping Philippines' Leonardo Doronio in the third round of their lightweight bout. Roman (52-11, 39KOs) has not lost since dropping a 10-round decision to Dante Jardon in their Oct. '12 rematch.
Jake Donovan is the managing editor of BoxingScene.com.
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