Oshae Jones retained her IBF junior middleweight championship Saturday night but was left unsatisfied after her main-event bout with Elia Carranza was ruled a split draw at Caribe Royal Resort in Orlando, Florida.
The fight was a rematch of their July 2025 showdown, which Jones won by split decision. The champion sought to have a more definitive outcome in the rematch but instead, left Florida discontented with yet another series of curious scorecards.
In a fight in which Jones outworked Carranza and outlanded her 101-67, two judges scored it 96-94, one for Jones and the other for Carranza, while a third judge had it 95-95.
"I think I did great," said Jones (9-0-1, 3 KOs). "I could have stayed off the ropes more, but it is what it is. I'm ready to get out of Florida ASAP."
In the first meeting last July, two judges scored the fight for Jones with 98-92 and 96-94 scores, but a third judge scored every round for Carranza (100-90), making what appeared to be a decisive win a controversial one.
Jones, a 2020 Olympic bronze medalist, told ESPN that she wasn't initially interested in a rematch with Carranza but understood why it had to happen. With the rematch being even less satisfying, it's likely that she'll have to face Carranza again.
"You got to make it something that's completely undeniable, and she did not do that tonight," said Carranza (11-2-1). "I definitely think that there should be a trilogy. I don't want to deal with it no more either, but the reality is that you got to do it right, and you got to do it fair. So, I'm ready to run it back."
Jones came out strong early in Saturday's fight, showcasing excellent combination punching and the ability to fight well off the backfoot. She also had to keep a cool head whenever Carranza attempted to play the role of the bully and made things rough on the inside.
The judges likely favored Carranza's aggression in the second half of the fight, even though Jones picked off her advances and popped combinations whenever her rival drew close. But, to Carranza's credit, she was undeterred and relentlessly pressed forward, crowding Jones' space and putting her back on the ropes. Some of the phone booth exchanges were tough to score, but it appeared that Jones+' work whenever there was distance between the two was enough to earn the victory.
Instead, Jones will return to her home in Georgia with her title along with a second controversial outcome against Carranza.
In the co-main event, Tiara Brown demonstrated poise and ring generalship to turn back the challenge of Hannah Rapp with a unanimous decision in defense of her WBC featherweight title.
With scores of 99-91, 99-91 and 97-93, Brown, 38, made the second successful defense of the title she won by beating Skye Nicholson in a major upset last March.
Brown (21-0, 11 KOs) had to deal with some roughhousing on the inside from Rapp in the early rounds. Rapp (8-1-1, 5 KOs) used her head and elbows in close quarters to rough the champion up and received several warnings for her antics. But she was unsuccessful as Brown couldn't be rattled and eventually settled into a groove.
Brown's adjustments saw her take control of the fight from the second round on, using combination punching, exceptional body work and a sharp jab to control her opponent. By Round 8, Rapp was busted up and bleeding while Brown wore a smile, enjoying the work she was putting in.
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