The Armory in Minneapolis – Unbeaten super lightweight contender Alberto Puello (20-0, 10 KOs) cruised to a unanimous decision over VeShawn Owens (13-3, 12 KOs) after their 10-round contest.
Puello controlled the action with exceptional punching accuracy, landing 39% of his shots compared to 16% from Owens. While Owens looked to disrupt his opponent with awkward movement, Puello was undeterred on his way to a 171 to 78 punch advantage.
“The strategy was always just to stay smart,” said Puello. “I knew that I just had to keep moving and execute my plan. As the fight went on, I could see that he wanted to fight toe-to-toe, so I adjusted and stood up to him.”
The movement of Owens nearly got him in trouble early, as he was tagged with an accidental elbow that caused a cut over his right eye in round two. He was able to weather that difficulty, but was kept at bay by a consistent body attack from Puello, which opened Owens up to left and right hooks to the head.
“I could never get in my rhythm,” said Owens. “I don’t know what it was, but I couldn’t get my timing down. I got him good a few times, but I couldn’t capitalize. He was sharper than I expected, but he wasn’t too fast or too powerful. I just couldn’t get my timing going. He was the sharper fighter and he knew what he was doing. He was game and I take my hat off to him. It was all me. No excuses, he was the better man.”
After 10 rounds, the judges scored the fight 100-90, 99-91 and 98-92, all in favor of Puello, who scored the victory in Owens’ hometown of Minneapolis.
“I’m ready for all the top 140 pounders,” said Puello. “I’m just going to take it fight by fight, but they all know now that I’m ready for any of them.”