Kali Reis defended her WBA junior welterweight title for the first time Friday with a 10-round majority decision win over Diana Prazak at Sycuan Casino in El Cajon, California.

But it was the 42-year-old Prazak, fighting for just the second time since 2014, who gave Reis all she could handle. 

Judge Daniel Sandoval scored it 95-95, but he was overruled by Max DeLuca and Pat Russell, who had it 96-94 and 97-93 for Reis, who won the vacant belt with a 10-round unanimous decision over Kandi Wyatt in November 2020.

It was a hard-fought fight for both women, but most ringside observers thought the former junior lightweight titleholder Prazak had done enough to win the fight. And the crowd let Reis know they did not agree with the decision. 

After the bout was called in her favor, she breathed a sigh of relief.

“I was expecting a tough fight,” she stated. “I give myself a horrible performance, but a win’s a win. She was really tough. We knew she was coming in.

“She’s a legend; she was pound-for-pound [for a reason]. Since y’all [were] booting me, y’all want to see that again?

In the first round, Reis got the action going behind her jab. However, midway into the frame, Prazak came forward and took away her reach by landing a right hand. She followed up by taking Reis to the ropes, where she also found a home for short shots to the body on the inside.

Prazak continued to come forward in round two, but it was Reis (18-7-1, 5 KOs), 34, of Providence, Rhode Island, who was landing the more effective punches. She connected with a crisp one-two combination at the center of the ring that momentarily stopped Prazak’s momentum.

Prazak (14-4, 9 KOs), an Australia native based in Los Angeles, took the fight to Reis again in round four. She backed up the champion with a slew of body shots and clipped Reis with a series of close range uppercuts.

The eighth round was another impressive one for Prazak, who attacked Reis downstairs with the left hook and landed with several strong right hands to the head.

Reis repeatedly got tagged by left hooks and was unable to set up her punches due to Prazak’s relentless work rate. 

Prazak battered a tiring Reis in round nine by backing her up repeatedly with a stiff jab and rattling her jaw with the right.

At the end of the fight, Prazak raised both arms in the air in triumph, but the judges went the other way as Reis improved her winning streak to five fights, while Prazak falls to 1-2 in her last three contests. 

In the chief support bout, 130-pounder Austin Brooks (3-0, 1 KO) remained unbeaten with a four-round unanimous decision over Jesus Torres Beltran (4-1, 3 KOs). 

On the undercard, bridgerweight Elvis Garcia (12-0, 9 KOs) picked up a third-round stoppage of Joel Shojgreen (10-3, 9 KOs) after dropping his opponent three times during the final frame.Alma Ibarra (9-1, 4 KOs) outpointed Kandi Wyatt (10-3, 3 KOs) over eight rounds to become the mandatory challenger to undisputed welterweight champion Jessica McCaskill’s WBA title.