Former WBO junior featherweight titleholder Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. had to dig deep to win a very close eight-round majority decision over Jonathan Arellano at the Coliseo Hector Sola Bezares in Caguas, Puerto Rico.

The bout, which took place at featherweight, headlined a Top Rank/ Miguel Cotto Promotions “Solo Boxeo Tecate” card and was broadcast on UniMas in U.S.

Almost five months ago in New York City, Vazquez lost a 10-round split decision to Marvin Sonsona. It was his fourth loss in seven bouts, leading some to wonder whether he would ever return to contender status.

Arellano entered the ring against Vazquez having won a six-round split decision over Jorge Sillas in Tijuana, Mexico on Aug. 1 in his last bout. Prior to that the Vazquez fight, he had lost four of six bouts.

Despite the loss to Sonsona, Arellano may have seemed a safe enough opponent for Vazquez to bounce back against while working his way towards contender status. Arellano had different ideas.

It was Vazquez who was the more effective fighter in the first two rounds, beating Arellano to the punch during a number of exchanges. Undaunted, Arellano was effective in the next two rounds, particularly when landing a lead right cross or uppercut to the head of Vazquez. Working from the center of the ring, Arellano did well on the inside when he had Vazquez pinned against the ropes.

Vazquez swung momentum in his favor in the Round 5. During the course of the next few rounds, Vazquez landed more combinations and returned to beating Arellano to the punch. Vazquez was successful in backing Arellano up against the ropes, where he landed the more effective punches.

However, the son of the three-division titleholder seemed to tire towards the Round 7 and seemed to try to keep his distance in the final round. Arellano, who often motioned for Vazquez to fight in the center of the ring, pressed the fight at the end. But Vazquez used his ring generalship to keep his distance or would tie up Arellano until the final bell sounded.

One judge scored the bout 76-76, while the other two judges scored the bout in favor of Vazquez, 78-74 and 77-75.

Vazquez, from nearby Bayamon, improves to 24-4-1, 19 knockouts, while the Southern California-based Arellano falls to 15-5-2, 3 KOs.

Briggs scores another first-round KO

Veteran Shannon Briggs has drawn attention recently for his out-of-ring antics to lure heavyweight champ Wladimir Klitschko into an undeserved fight. The former champ took a break from that by actually fighting in the ring over the weekend.

Briggs, 42, knocked out Richard Carmack in the opening round at the Isle of Capri Casino in Lula, Mississippi on Saturday.

It was all Briggs, who dominated the action against the overmatched Carmack, blooding the nose of his much-shorter opponent.

Briggs ended matters when he landed a hard left hook to the body of Carmack, who immediately took a knee. Referee Randy Phillips counted Carmack out at 2:59.

Briggs improves to 57-6-1, 50 KOs. Carmack, a journeyman from Kansas City, Missouri who has now lost his last six bouts, falls to 12-6, 10 KOs.

Briggs has now won his last six bouts in a row since his one-sided unanimous decision to then-WBC titleholder Vitali Klitschko in October of 2010.

Molina stays busy in Mexico City

Pro boxing made its return to Arena Coliseo in Mexico City on Saturday. The venue has been used for lucha libre (Mexican-style professional wrestling) in recent years.

Welterweight Javier Molina, a 2008 U.S. Olympian, won a six-round split decision over Luis Prieto on Saturday night at the famed venue.

It was a stay-busy fight for Molina, a resident of Commerce, which is a suburb of Los Angeles.

Molina (16-1, 7 KOs) has won his last seven bouts since his eight-round unanimous decision loss to Artemio Reyes in October of 2011.

Ironically, Prieto (8-4) lost to Javier Molina’s twin brother, Oscar in his previous bout on Sept. 6.

Francisco A. Salazar has written for RingTV since October of 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Salazar also covers boxing for the Ventura County (CA) Star newspaper, Boxingscene.com, and Knockout Nation. He can be reached by email at [email protected] or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing