By Ryan Burton

Sam's Town Hotel & Gambling Hall, Las Vegas,Nev. - In a battle of undefeated cruiserweight prospects, Andrew Tabiti (13-0, 11KOs) won a ten round unanimous decision over Keith Tapia (17-1, 11KOs) in a foul-filled fight. Tabiti captures the vacant NABF championship. The scores were 99-90, 97-92, 97-92.

The fight had a ton of accidental head clashes, which resulted in Tapia suffering a cut under his right eye and a bad cut over his left eye in the last round. Tabiti scored a flash knockdown in the eight round with a right uppercut when Tapia momentarily touched the mat.

Tabiti came out of the gate passively while Tapia was very aggressive in the opening round. After the feel out round, Tabiti came out more aggressive in the second but had limited success. Tapia landed a couple big shots late and was warned for throwing an elbow just before the bell sounded.

Tabiti had a great third round as he let his hands go more often and landed several power shots and caught Tapia leaning in. A big clash of heads brought a pause to the action in the fifth round but fortunately neither fighter was cut. Tapia began to grow frustrated by Tabiti's footwork and had trouble making his own adjustments as he began to fall behind. The clashes of heads would continue to a common theme throughout the fight.

Tabiti landed his biggest punch of the night to that point, an uppercut towards the end of the seventh round that shook Tapia. Tabiti scored a knockdown in the 8th but Tapia was able to recover almost immediately after he rose to his feet. Tapia mounted a late charge in the 9th but it was too little too late. Tabiti fought a tactical 10th and final round, perhaps sensing he was ahead comfortably to make sure he avoided getting caught by any of Tapia's wild shots