In a compelling junior middleweight clash, Austin Trout, a former titleholder at 154 pounds, and Terrell Gausha fought to a 12-round split decision draw Saturday night at the Beau Rivage Resort and Casino in Biloxi, Mississippi.

One judge scored the bout 99-91 for Gausha, another scored 96-94 for Trout, while the third judge scored the bout 95-95. The overwhelming consensus is that Gausha should have been given the verdict.

The southpaw Trout, who resides in Las Cruces, New Mexico, entered the ring having lost three of his previous four bouts.

Gausha, who is originally from Cleveland and now resides in the Los Angeles suburb of Encino, was the aggressor from the opening bell, throwing and landing looping right crosses. One of those rights stunned Trout with about a minute left in the opening round.

Gausha, who once dropped a decision to then-WBA titleholder Erislandy Lara, continued to close the distance, momentarily wobbling Trout with another right midway through the third.

At times, Trout utilized his ring generalship and savviness to bait Gausha into throwing punches in order to score with his left cross. The tactic worked occasionally, but Gausha continued to land straight and looping right crosses to the head.

Sensing he was down on the scorecards, Trout became the aggressor in the seventh round and let his hands go more on the inside. Still it was Gausha looked the fresher and busier fighter during the 10th and final round.

Undercard

In the co-feature, junior middleweight prospect Chordale Booker of Stamford, Connecticut, defeated former welterweight contender Wale Omotoso (27-4, 21 KOs) of Nigeria by 10-round decision.

All three judges scored the bout 100-90 in favor of Booker, who improves to 15-0 (7 KOs).

Light heavyweight Ahmed Elbiali (19-1, 16 KOs) of Egypt knocked out Brazil’s Marlos Simoes (13-2-2, 5 KOs) at 2:12 of the second round. A grazing right hand dropped Simoes to the canvas.

Fringe super middleweight contender Habib Ahmed of Ghana defeated Colombia’s Juan De Angel (21-11-1, 19 KOs) by decision over eight one-sided rounds. All three judges scored the bout 80-72 in favor of Ahmed who improves to 27-1-1 (18 KOs).

In cruiserweight action, Nigeria’s Efetobor Apochi (8-0, 8 KOs) knocked out Earl Newman (10-2-1, 7 KOs) of Brooklyn, New York in an all-action fight. The official time was 2:12 of the seventh round.

Bantamweight prospect Shawn Simpson of Chicago defeated Los Angeles’ Sergio Quiroz (6-2, 1 KO) by unanimous decision. All three judges scored the bout 60-54 in favor of Simpson who improves to 10-0 (3 KOs).

Welterweight prospect Amon Rashidi (7-0, 5 KOs) of Dallas knocked out Mexico’s Juan Jesus Rivera Garces (19-25, 13 KOs) at 2:12 of the fourth round.

Francisco A. Salazar has written for RingTV.com since October 2013. He can be reached by email at [email protected] or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing

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