Alberto Rossel v Karluis Diaz Perez

Peruvian Alberto Rossel (29-8-0-1, 13) made the first successful defence of his WBA "interim" Light Flyweight title against Colombian Karluis Diaz Perez (17-4, 13) in a bout that really showed that Rossel was a bit of a Jekyll and Hyde fighter.

In the opening round Rossel looked to be a much, much better fighter than the challenger as he landed a number of solid, accurate, sharp right hands on to the head of Diaz who was wild and inaccurate. Sadly however Rossel seemed to turn off a number of times and was simply out worked by the crude and limited Colombian who was actually trying to have a fight. Diaz's crudeness really showed up in a number of rounds where he neglected his jab (which often appeared to be his best weapon) and just throw right hands. Despite a number of solid rights landing on Rossel the champion never seemed bothered and just continued to be passive.

In round 7 Diaz landed his best punch of the fight, a real nut cracker that had the champion wincing and given time to recover in the neutral corner. Despite the punch being a blatant low blow the referee didn't decide to take any further action other than allowing the champion a few moments to compose himself. Personally I thought this may have reinvigorated the champion but sadly he remained relatively passive. Whilst the champion was throwing some punches the numbers were low, though he was very accurate with them it just appeared he was fighting well with in himself and should have instead been going through the gears.

When Rossel finally dud decide to go through the gears in the championship rounds he showed why he was the "Interim" champion. When he put his foot down he was making Diaz look completely out of his depth and tagging him almost at will with solid, hurtful right hands. It was this gear change late that really showed the monster in Rossel, though it wasn't until the final round that we really got to see the true beast in the Peruvian. After dropping the challenger in the 12th round Rossel threw the kitchen sink at the Colombian in an attempt to end the bout early though ran out of time, leaving the decision in the hands of the judges.

Despite wasting a number of rounds being overly selective in his output Rossel managed to retain his title, pretty clearly on the judges score cards. This was the first successful defense of any form of a world boxing title by a Peruvian fighter.

At 34 years old it's hard to see where Rossel goes from here. He really wouldn't stand a chance against the best in the division (such as Roman Gonzalez, Johnriel Casimero, Ryo Miyazaki or Donnie Nietes) though he may see them as a chance to cash out slightly rather than facing the likes of Diaz for peanuts.

This bout aired on Peruvian television on the Andina de Televisión (ATV) station, who are likely to be showing whatever Rossel does next in a boxing ring.