Junior middleweight Michel Soro battered John Vera for 12 rounds to claim a one-sided unanimous decision at the Palais des Sport in Marseille, France, on Saturday. The official cores were 120-107, 119-108 and 118-109.

Soro, who is rated No. 8 by THE RING at 154 pounds, put Vera on the defensive from the second round on. The Ivory Coast native, who resides in France, scored a knockdown in Round 7 and had Vera in trouble during the second half of the bout, but the 29-year-old southpaw managed to survive.

In his most recent outing, Vera (18-1, 11 knockouts) stopped Sunday Ajuwa. The Fort Worth, Texas, resident entered the ring against Soro unbeaten, but he had faced mainly unheralded competition.

The 30-year-old Soro (32-2-1, 21 KOs) is trained by acclaimed coach Abel Sanchez. He is hoping to secure a rematch with Brian Castano, who defeated him via 12-round split decision last July.

Undercard

Cruiserweight Arsen Goulamirian (23-0, 15 KOs), who is also trained by Sanchez, stopped Ryad Merhy (24-1, 20 KOs). Referee Guillermo Perez stopped the bout at 0:51 of Round 1.

Mohammed Rabii (5-0, 4 KOs) stopped former junior welterweight contender Giuseppe Lauri (56-20, 34 KOs) at 1:45 of Round 3. Rabii won a bronze medal for Morocco at the 2016 Olympics in Rio.

Francisco A. Salazar can be reached by email at [email protected] or on Twitter @FSalazarBoxing

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