By Jake Donovan

Will Tomlinson was forced to overcome a gruesome cut, a bloody nose and a stiff challenge from Adones Aguelo to escape with a highly questionable 10-round majority decision Friday evening at Melbourne Pavilion in Flemington, Australia.

Even if it can be argued that the judges got it right (they didn't), Tomlinson hardly resembled anything close to the fighter he was the last time he played the venue as an unbeaten contender more than two years ago. While he's looked worse for the wear in recent times, the 29-year old was supposed to use this bout as an opportunity to reinvent his brand in a new weight class.

Instead, he was given all he could handle by Aguelo, a well-traveled Filipino who at no point showed any signs of backing down. The journeyman lightweight came in with upset on his mind, well equipped to drag Tomlinson through the trenches over the course of their 10-round main event.

Whereas heavyweight contender Lucas Browne managed to avoid a major upset with a bailout knockout on the undercard, Tomlinson struggled to take the lead. The heart was in the right place, but the execution fell short, and his tissue skin gave way to a deep cut over his left eye, ruled as the cause of a punch in round six.

By that point, Aguelo had also bloodied Tomlinson's nose, marked up his face and continued to land combinations amidst his aggressive attack. 

With the fight seemingly slipping away, Tomlinson managed to dig deep and make a fight of it in the final two rounds. Neither round was decisive, but enough for Tomlinson to shade it on the cards and avoid a second straight loss, as well as a major upset as the always-tough Aguelo was improperly gauged as a 10-1 underdog prior to the bout. 

As it turned out, Tomlinson could have moonwalked around the ring for the final two rounds and still have fared no worse than a draw. One judge had it 95-95 - perhaps the closest to the truth - while cards of 97-93 and 97-94 reeked of a welcome home offering Tomlinson, who advances to 24-2-1 (13KOs). 

BoxingScene.com had it 97-94 in favor of Aguelo, who falls to 24-12-2 (16KOs). 

The fight was Tomlinson's first in Australia since a 12-round decision win over former 130 lb. titlist Malcom Klassen in May '13. At the time, Tomlinson was an undefeated contender who eventually signed with Oscar de la Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions, setting up camp in the United States. 

A four-fight trek in the Americas resulted in Tomlinson suffering his lone two losses, within a span of his past four fights. His stateside debut resulted in a major upset, dropping a 10-round decision to Jerry Belmontes last March. Two wins followed before suffering an 8th round knockout loss in a brave showing versus top super featherweight contender Francisco Vargas.

Tomlinson is now back home and in the win column, but there is certainly a lot of work ahead for the once promising contender. 

The bout aired live on free to air Channel 9 in Australia.

Jake Donovan is the managing editor of BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox