By Jon Uddin 

All draws are not created equal, and Saturday night in Las Vegas, the lack of action from Robert Easter Jr (21-1-1, 14KO) and Rances Barthelemy (27-1-1, 14KO) is what created the split decision draw (114-114, 115-113, 113-115) we were left with after 12 rounds.

In what was a WBA Title Eliminator, both fighters seemed content to wait for the other to create a opening to capitalize on, instead of forcing the action and taking the fight. This stood out more to me from Easter, who seemed to have the fight there for the taking more so than Barthelemy.

Easter took some time to find his range and open up and land his right hand on Barthelemy in the beginning of the rounds, but wouldn’t continue that work in the second half of the round, letting the fight become stagnant. A lot of the close rounds got away from him strictly from lack of activity.

At the end of twelve Easter had landed a total of 54 punches on 421 thrown, and Barthelemy 52 punches out of 328. No issues with a draw. Neither man took it, and its doubtful the fight left anyone with a desire for a rematch.

JON UDDIN SCORECARD: 115-113 EASTER