Cristian Mijares, THE RING's No. 2 junior bantamweight contender, was shocked by Nehomar Cerme├▒o, who out-pointed the former WBA/WBC 115-pound titleholder to a 12-round split decision in Coahuila de Zaragoza, Mexico on Saturday night.

Cerme├▒o, who represented Venezuela in the 2000 Olympics, won by scores of 116-112 and 115-113. One judge scored the fight for Mijares (36-5-2, 15 knockouts), 117-111.

With the victory, Cerme├▒o (17-0, 10 KOs) remained undefeated, picked up the WBA “interim” 115-pound title, and will likely break into THE RING's junior bantamweight rankings. Mijares, who was knocked out by Vic Darchinyan in his last fight last November, suffered another setback to his once-promising career and his RING rating will likely drop a few places this week.