Taras Shelestyuk fought through a cut in the second half of their 10-round welterweight bout and comfortably beat Luis Veron on Friday night.

The 2012 Olympic bronze medalist out-boxed the Argentinean veteran and won by wide distances on all three scorecards in the second of three bouts Showtime televised as part of its “ShoBox: The New Generation” series from Shreveport, Louisiana. Judges Todd Singletary (98-92) and Keith Thibadeaux (98-92) scored eight rounds apiece for the technically sound southpaw and judge Pat Dayton scored seven rounds for Shelestyuk (97-93).

Ukraine’s Shelestyuk improved to 18-0. Argentina’s Veron slipped to 18-2-2.

Veron tried to be aggressive during the second half of their bout, but Shelestyuk controlled the action with his jab, kept his distance and out-boxed Veron

Two right hands by Veron landed early in the fifth round. An accidental clash of heads right around the halfway point of that round caused a cut on Shelestyuk’s forehead.

Shelestyuk cracked Veron with a left hand that affected him with 25 seconds to go in the fifth.

Shelestyuk drilled Veron with a hard right to his body with about 50 seconds left in the fourth round. Veron was more active in the fourth round, but Shelestyuk blocked a lot of his shots.

Shelestyuk’s right hook connected with just under a minute to go in the third round. A straight left hand by Shelestyuk moved Veron backward toward the end of the third.

Veron went after Shelestyuk’s head and body during the second round, but Shelestyuk protected himself well. Shelestyuk worked well off his jab in a largely unremarkable first round. 

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