Rances Barthelemy Captures Win Over Juarez

Junior welterweight Rances Barthelemy won a majority decision over Omar Juarez to bounce back from a knockout loss in the Rolando Romero-Ismael Barroso co-feature on Saturday night in the Showtime co-feature at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas.

Barthelemy won what appeared to be a highly competitive fight 98-92 and 97-93 while one judge scored it 95-95, leaving the crowd booing the result of the bout contracted at 143 pounds.

.@RealKidBlast gets it done 💯

He picks up the decision victory over Juarez to bounce back from his previous loss in a big way 💥#BarthelemyJuarez #RomeroBarroso pic.twitter.com/aMcbtmfkhU

— SHOWTIME Boxing (@ShowtimeBoxing) May 14, 2023

“I tried to win this fight intelligently with my brains against a young fighter and that’s what I did,” Barthelemy said through an interpreter.

Former junior lightweight and lightweight titlist Barthelemy (30-2-1, 15 KOs), 37, a Cuban defector based in Las Vegas, was coming off a 10-month layoff since unbeaten up-and-comer Gary Antuanne Russell knocked him down and stopped him in the sixth round last July.

He looked a lot better against Juarez (14-2, 5 KOs), 23, of Brownsville, Texas, who had the clear edge when he let his hands go but did not do it enough.

Barthelemy seemed to take control in the first few rounds before Juarez got going. He landed some excellent body shots and in the fifth round was bullying Barthelemy with hard left hands.

Barthelemy, the vastly more experienced fighter, countered and kept his distance when necessary.
After the seventh round, Juarez’s corner was all over him, telling him to pick up the pace and not to leave it to the judges.

Although two scorecards were wide, the fight seemed to be on the table going into the 10th round. Juarez’s corner told him to “empty the tank” and Barthelemy’s corner was explicit in telling him to go for the knockout.

Juarez came out fast and pressured Barthelemy as they slugged it out but the action quickly slowed for the final minute.

Barthelemy said he next wants a rematch with Russell more than any other fight.

“I want a rematch even more than a title shot,” Barthelemy said. “I want that rematch with Gary Antuanne Russell. I want it badly.”

Juarez saw a three-fight winning streak since getting knocked down in an upset majority 10-round decision loss to All Rivera in June 2021

“It is what it is. I honestly thought I did enough to win, but all that’s left is to keep working hard for next time,” Juarez said. “My one mistake was not staying on top of him. I should have been more aggressive. I’ll let my hands do the talking and stay humble.”

According to CompuBox, Barthelemy landed 95 of 448 punches (21 percent) and Juarez connected with 101 of 428 (24 percent).