Christian Barreto effortlessly passed his toughest test to date.
A competitive fight on paper turned into a landside win for the undefeated lightweight, who soundly outpointed Luis Acosta over six rounds, Scores were 58-55, 58-55 and 59-54 for Barreto in their DAZN-aired bout as part of the OTX Boxing series Friday evening at Overtime Elite Arena in Atlanta, Georgia.
Barreto stepped well up in competition but was game for the cause from the opening bell. The heavy-handed Boricua from Arecibo threw heavy leather early, perhaps motivated by the knockout bonus incentive offered by the OTX Boxing team on all of its shows. Acosta showed a far sturdier chin than was the case when was stopped inside of two rounds by Edwin De Los Santos in his televised debut on Showtime last March.
Acosta briefly turned the tide in round two. The Houston native—who regularly trains with current major titlists Regis Prograis and O’Shaquie Foster—caught the attention of Barreto, who in turn showed an ability to absorb as he was never close to being hurt.
The left hook of Barreto consistently found a home, both to the head and body. Acosta’s own left hook to the body was his most effective weapon but which had minimal impact. Barreto rode out a brief flurry by Acosta to land a flush right hand upstairs.
A clash of heads left Acosta with a cut over his right eye which required an inspection from the ringside physician. The contact appeared to be incidental, but was deemed severe enough for Barreto to lose a point on the scorecards. It proved inconsequential as he built up a sizeable enough lead to coast to the finish line.
Barreto improved to 10-0 (7KOs) with by far his best win to date. Acosta fell to 13-2 (12KOs) and now has lost two of his last three starts.
Headlining the show, former amateur standout Lorenzo ‘Truck’ Simpson faces Vladimir Hernandez in a scheduled ten-round middleweight contest.
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox