Lenier Pero UD 10 over Jordan Thompson in Orlando

Lenier Pero outpointed Jordan Thompson over ten rounds at the Caribe Royale in Orlando, taking a unanimous decision by scores of 97–93 and 96–93 twice to claim the WBA Continental heavyweight title. The southpaw from Cuba pressed on the front foot from the outset, setting a steady pace and looking for the body with short hooks and straight lefts. Thompson, returning after a long layoff and campaigning as a full-fledged heavyweight, used his height and reach to stay mobile and pick at openings with the jab, but he was forced to move frequently to keep clear of the pressure.

The early rounds were shaped by Pero’s body work and ring positioning. He stepped inside behind a right-hand lead and slid left to find angles for his back hand, while Thompson circled and tried to reset behind single jabs and the occasional right. In the third and fourth, the Englishman had brief success, standing his ground to fire back in twos, yet the exchanges generally ended with Pero shoving him to the ropes and digging downstairs. The pattern remained largely the same through the fifth, with the pace controlled by the Cuban and Thompson’s responses coming in counters rather than prolonged combinations.

The middle sessions turned on discipline as much as clean scoring. Pero strayed low repeatedly, drawing three halts to the action and, in the seventh round, a point deduction from referee Christopher Young. Even with the penalty, the pressure told in exchanges where Pero’s left hand landed on the torso and chest, forcing Thompson to clinch or pivot away. Thompson’s best moments came when he stepped forward behind the jab and straight right, especially late in the seventh and early in the eighth, but he rarely sustained the initiative long enough to swing a full round.

The most dramatic passage arrived late in the ninth. Pero drove a straight left through Thompson’s guard and chased him to the ropes, following with heavy shots as the bell approached. Thompson stayed upright and answered with single counters, but he looked shaken and had to manage the remainder of the round under fire. In the tenth, both men found pockets of success—Thompson letting his hands go in bursts, Pero backing him up and returning to the mid-section—but the Cuban’s earlier work and stronger finishing sequence kept the ledger in his favour.

Across ten rounds, the judges’ totals reflected a contest in which Pero’s forward momentum, body attack, and southpaw accuracy steadily banked frames despite his fouls. At the same time, Thompson’s movement and sporadic successes could not overturn the cumulative effect of being walked down. The unanimous decision preserved Pero’s unbeaten record. It moved him up the heavyweight queue, with Thompson showing resilience on his return but short of the volume and control needed to reverse the result.