Elwin Soto Defeats Carlos Buitrago By Unanimous Decision
Elwin Soto (18-1, 12 KOs) successfully defended the WBO World light flyweight title for the second time with a unanimous decision win (119-109, 117-111, 115-113) over Carlos Buitrago (32-6-1, 18 KOs) at the Fantasy Springs Casino in Indio, California.
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For a young champion (23), Soto is calculating as a fighter and never one to waste his punches. While starting the fight on the front foot, he was patient during the first four rounds. The taller challenger did a decent job early on trying to jab. Buitrago did a decent enough job boxing from the outside.
Soto was the faster, bigger, and more powerful fighter. However, he was unable to land the clean, telling blows and it was like he was still in first gear even. Yes, he was winning, but you got the sense he could be more dominant if he would just step on the gas.
The middle rounds were a repeat of the early rounds. While it wasn’t the most exciting fight, it was low-key competitive. If there was one main deciding factor, it was the difference in the overall body language.
The champ was energetic and spry in there while the challenger’s body posture seemed aloof at times. Even as he continued to be effective with jabs and combinations to the head.
Soto played around during the final rounds, confident of victory. In the end, the outward confidence of the champ that probably played a major role in how wide the scorecards were.
It must be said that in the humble opinion of this reporter, this was a much closer fight than the scores of the judges indicated.
By: Michael Wilson Jr
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