ATLANTIC CITY, NJ – Hugo Alberto Roldan had Joseph Adorno win every second of his close 10-round victory on Friday night.
The rough and tumble Argentine got up from a second-round knockdown and pressured the favored junior welterweight for most of their highly competitive main event at Bally’s Event Center. However, that knockdown made the difference on all three scorecards, and Adorno battled injuries to both hands to post a one-point unanimous decision in this “ShoBox: The New Generation” main event.
Judges John McKaie, Joseph Pasquale and Robin Taylor scored their fight 95-94 for Adorno, who won a third fight in a row since undefeated Dominican contender Michel Rivera handed Adorno his only loss 5 1/2 months ago.
Adorno, 23, of Allentown, Pennsylvania, improved to 17-1-2 (14 KOs). Roldán, 29, lost for the first time as a professional (21-1-1, 7 KO).
With their seemingly competitive back-and-forth bout on the cards, Adorno and Roldan traded shots during the tenth round. However, Adorno seemed to prefer his right hand again in that final round.
Adorno landed a right hand and got out of harm’s way early in the ninth round. A counter left hook from Adorno connected later in the ninth round.
Adorno’s short right uppercut caught Roldan as he leaned forward with 30 seconds left in the eighth round. Roldan’s right-left combination dropped Adorno to the ropes with just over a minute left in the eighth round.
A right-left combination by Roldan prevented Adorno from advancing late in the seventh round. Adorno tried to remove his jab in that round, but Roldán’s clumsiness made it effective at times.
Fighting from a southpaw stance, Roldan connected with a straight left hand early in the sixth round. Adorno countered Roldán with several right hands as the sixth round wore on, but Roldán was affected by those punches.
Roldan responded to Adorno with a left hook in the fifth round, but Adorno took that hit well.
Roldan lunged forward and landed a right hand as Adorno backed into a neutral corner early in the fourth round. A counter left from Adorno buckled Roldan’s knees several seconds before he ended the fourth round.
After suffering a knockdown late in the second round, Roldán tried to stifle Adorno’s power and pummel him in the third round.
Adorno nailed Roldan with a left hook to the side of the head that caused a knockdown just before the bell rang to end the second round. That shot caused Roldán to fall forward and touch the canvas with both gloves.
Esteves warned Roldan for headbutting Adorno early in the second round. Roldan recognized Adorno’s hard left to the body later in the second round and walked away from Adorno.
Roldan went for Adorno as soon as the bell rang to start their fight and landed a right hand just five seconds later. However, Adorno made him pay about 20 seconds into the first round, when he landed a left hook that knocked Roldan off balance as he charged forward.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
