Johnny Tapia remained unbeaten Saturday by scoring a lopsided decision over Jesse Miranda in a 10-round non-title fight.
Tapia, the WBO junior bantamweight champion, improved to 31-0-2 in a rough-and-tumble fight in which Miranda threw him to the canvas several times during clinches.
The fight was on the undercard of the Oscar De La Hoya-Genaro Hernandez WBO lightweight title fight at Caesars Palace.
Tapia, 116 pounds, of Albuquerque, staggered Miranda with a right hand in the fifth round and battered him throughout the fight in scoring an easy decision.
“It was an awful fight,” Tapia said. “I had to be extra careful tonight. He hit me, tackled me and head-butted me. He tried just about everything.”
Two judges gave Tapia nine of the 10 rounds, while the third scored seven rounds in his favor. Ringside punch stats had Tapia landing 202 of 394 punches to 160 of 494 for Miranda (11-4), 115 1/2, of Phoenix.
