HOLLYWOOD, Fla. (AP) — Cedric Boswell won a unanimous decision over former heavyweight champion Oliver McCall on Friday night.
Boswell, of Atlanta, was the busier fighter in the 10-round bout at Hard Rock Live Arena.
After an uneventful first two rounds of repeated clinches, the pace intensified in the third. Boswell scored with a right uppercut while McCall connected with rights to head.
Boswell (34-1) took control midway through the fight with lead left jabs to the head and body and left-right combinations to the head.
All three judges scored the bout for Boswell, 99-91, 99-92 and 98-92. There were no knockouts.
The 45-year-old McCall, who knocked out Lennox Lewis for the WBC title in 1994, is now 55-11.
In another bout, 2004 Olympic gold medalist Yan Barthelemy (12-2) won a lopsided decision over the Dominican Republic’s Francis Ruiz (9-4).
Barthelemy, who defected from his native Cuba in 2006, floored Ruiz with a left-right combination to the head in the third round for the super-bantamweight fight’s only knockdown.
Remaining busy with combinations to the head, Barthelemy dictated the pace for most of the 10-round super-featherweight bout. Ruiz gamely tried to press the action late in the fight but only absorbed repeated lead shots from Barthelemy.
Barthelemy won on all three judges’ scorecards, 100-89, 98-91 and 97-92.
Barthelemy weighed 119 pounds, while Ruiz weighed 120.
Welterweight contender Brad Solomon remained unbeaten with a unanimous decision over Demetrius Hopkins. Solomon, who is now 17-0, won on two judges’ scorecards, 99-91, and 97-93 on the third.
