PHOTOS: Rances Barthelemy and Robert Easter Jr. Fight to Split-Draw in Las Vegas

Robert Easter Jr. and Rances Barthelemy fought to a split-draw on Saturday night (Photo: Esther Lin – SHOWTIME)

Robert Easter Jr x Rances Barthelemy

By Chris Robinson

On Saturday night, with the vacant WBA lightweight title on the line, former two-division champion Rances Barthelemy and former IBF lightweight champion Robert Easter Jr. fought to an uneventful split-draw verdict. The bout aired on SHOWTIME from the Chelsea inside The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas.

The fight was largely void of any real action, with scorecards reading 115-113 Barthelemy, 115-113 Easter, and 114-114.

“I feel I did enough to win this fight but the judges saw it differently,” said Easter (21-1-1, 14 KO’s). “They saw it a different way. Rances is a crafty fighter, an elusive fighter. I tried to take the fight to him but he wouldn’t take it. It was hard to land my shots.”

Easter was looking to bounce back from a unanimous decision loss to Mikey Garcia last July while the Cuban Barthelemy (27-1-1, 14 KO’s) was moving down to lightweight following a loss to Kiryl Relikh in a bid to become a three-weight world champion two fights ago.

“Robert was absent in the ring tonight,” Barthelemy said. “I wanted him to land his right and he didn’t. I wanted him to come forward and he didn’t. We were prepared for a different Robert Easter, the one that attacks, but he didn’t show up so I couldn’t deliver my strategy.”

Each man will now move on with their careers and both could likely be heading to 140 pounds in the near future.

Robert Easter Jr x Rances Barthelemy

Robert Easter Jr x Rances Barthelemy

Robert Easter Jr x Rances Barthelemy

Robert Easter Jr x Rances Barthelemy

Robert Easter Jr x Rances Barthelemy

Robert Easter Jr x Rances Barthelemy

Robert Easter Jr x Rances Barthelemy

Robert Easter Jr x Rances Barthelemy

Robert Easter Jr x Rances Barthelemy

Floyd Mayweather

Chris Robinson can be reached at CRobinson@hustleboss.com

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