By Rick Reeno

StubHub Center, Carson, California - In a battle of amateur rivals, WBC lightweight champion Omar Figueroa (23-0- 17KOs) returned after a year off and won a twelve round split decision over Jerry Belmontes (19-4, 5KOs). The scores were 115-113 for Belmontes, 116-112 for Figueroa and 118-110 for Figueroa.

The first two rounds were big for Belmontes, who was outworking and outlanding Figueroa. In the third, Figueroa started battling back with hard punches from both hands with Belmontes hanging in there and throwing back.

Figueroa's nose started bleeding in the fourth. Figueroa started picking up the activity in the fifth, making things very close as Belmontes continued to do his best to stay in the race. By the ninth, Belmontes was simply trying to move and stay away, while Figueroa was pressing forward and that trend pretty much continued until the end of the fight.