22-year old Welterweight Antwone Smith (16-1, 8 KO) of Miami, Florida, took a big step towards contention on Friday night at the Fontainbleau Hotel in Miami Beach, Florida, capturing a decisive ten round decision over Miami-based Colombian Richard Gutierrez (24-3-1, 14 KO).

Gutierrez came into the bout at the division limit of 147, Smith a half pound under the limit.

Through the first three rounds, both men battled comfortably at close quarters, Smith grunting through accurate combinations and Gutierrez banging away with wide left hooks, uppercuts, and body shots.

The straight punching of Smith accumulated punishment on Gutierrez as the third wore down and he opened the fourth two laser rights to start the fourth. Taking turns with their backs towards the ropes, Gutierrez responded by opening a cut on the left eye of Smith but the Floridian hardly blinked as he stayed shoulder to shoulder, countering and carving up his more experienced foe. In the final ten seconds, a right hand whipped Gutierrez’s head around and the bell clanged with Smith outworking him along the ropes.

As had been the case in the couple of rounds prior, Smith went to work with a volume of offense in the fifth, pinning Gutierrez under the Colombian’s closely held defense. As the round wore on, Gutierrez began to find a home for his right to the body again with both men remaining at close quarters. The pace slowed, if only slightly, in a sixth round where each man still showed off plenty of leather.

Showing more fatigue than his younger opponent, Gutierrez’s offense became wider and discernibly slower in the seventh. Two counter rights from Smith and a snapping left hook had Gutierrez off balance before he headed towards his corner at the bell.

Still grunting with each blow, Smith looked to establish the left jab right away in the eighth but was soon back in the trenches. He continued to outwork and outland Gutierrez but a hint of extra drama emerged late as Smith was led to the corner for the doctor to examine his still bleeding cut. Smith insisted he was alright and the doctor agreed.

Throwing between the offensive efforts of Gutierrez, Smith continued to land in abundance through the final two rounds though, to his credit, the always crowd pleasing Gutierrez kept throwing hard in spots. The final ten seconds saw Smith’s cut again under scrutiny but the doctor quickly waved the fighters back into action and each raised their arms at the final bell. When the judges scores were announced, it would be Smith’s arms which remained up at 97-93, 96-94, and a head scratching100-88 without any knockdowns.

Inside of boxing circles, it was one of the more anticipated professional debuts in the last few years. 28-year old former two-time Olympic Gold Medalist and now professional Jr. Featherweight Guillermo Rigondeaux (1-0, 1 KO), 122 ¼, needed two tries to defect out of his native Cuba and make his way to the paid ranks for the first time. It didn’t take him long to pick up his first pro win, going through an overmatched 21-year old Juan Noriega (3-2, 3 KO), 120 1/2, of Danville, Arkansas.

Rigondeaux came out measured for all of a few seconds before opening up with a successions of southpaw left hands to force a knockdown nineteen seconds into the bout. Noriega rose quickly and as the action resumed so too did Rigondeaux’s lefts all of them echoing as they bounced off the ribs and skull of Noriega. Settling down, Rigondeaux boxed for the final two minutes, using a pawing right jab to set up single lefts and nearly scoring another knockdown in the final ten seconds.

In round two, again fighting when he wanted to, Rigondeaux sent Noriega stumbling early and late with lead right hooks but wasn’t putting together combinations and Noriega survived the single pot shot offense. By the third, survive was all Noriega seemed to have any hope to do. Lacking any offense in return, and taking booming right hooks, referee Sam Burgos stepped in for the save at 1:09 of round number three.

For Rigondeaux, it was a chance to shake off any rust which may have accumulated in the years he’s been away from live action, banned from boxing after his first failed defection in 2007. He still possesses uncanny speed, accuracy, and showed some pop, laying the foundation for what should be an intriguing career to watch.

The televised opener featured the continued development of another former Cuban standout as 26-year old Jr. Middleweight Erislandy Lara (6-0, 4 KO), 153 ¼, stopped the best foe of his young career to date in 37-year old Edwin Vasquez (22-14-2, 8 KO), 153 ¼.

The southpaw Lara showed off his full range of skills, firing accurate lefts and body blows behind an educated jab. A minute into the second round, a counter left put Vasquez on the floor. The veteran rose and stayed off the deck from there but by the fourth was eating combinations in succession and referee Telis Assimenios waved the action off at 1:13 of round four.

Lara increasingly looks like a solid bet for those wondering just which of the latest wave of Cuban defectors has the best long range hopes in the paid ranks.

The bouts were televised on U.S. cable network ESPN2 as part of their Friday Night Fights series.

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