Juan Carlos Payano retains bantamweight belt vs. Rau'shee Warren in PBC on Bounce debut

The debut of PBC: The Next Round on Bounce TV was a success.

The prospect oriented series jumped off with a tripleheader Sunday from Full Sail University in Orlando, and the final two bouts were evenly matched and featured plenty of action.

Juan Carlos Payano retained his WBA "super" bantamweight championship in the main event with a split-decision victory over Rau'shee Warren. One judge saw it for Warren, 115-109, but the others turned in tallies of 113-111 for Payano.

"Warren is one of the best in this division, but there are lots of other good fighters in this division. I'll fight any of them," said Payano, who was making the first defense of the title he won from Anselmo Moreno last year. "I think the decision was fair."

The 118-pounders slugged it out in close quarters, but the matchup was marred by fouls. The Dominican's face was covered with gashes, cuts he says were all caused by headbutts. The two-time Olympian was deducted one point for rabbit punches in Round 3; Warren was docked two points in Round 9 for continued shoving.

Following the foul, Warren (13-1, 4 KOs) knew he needed to claim the points back and amped up the pressure. The three-time Olympian dropped Payano (17-0, 8 KOs) with a right hand in the final round, but it wasn't enough to get the win.

"The one judge had it heavily for me, so I don't know what was up with the others," Warren, 28, said. "I think the point deductions really hurt me. He said I hit him while he was down and it cost me. He was strong in the first four or five rounds, but then I figured him out. I want a rematch. I'll be back strong."

A rematch is certainly in order given the action and how close the fight was. Warren was looking to become the first champion from the 2012 U.S. Olympic team.

A WBC junior middleweight tournament was held on the televised undercard. John Jackson topped Dennis Laurente in the opening bout, prevailing by unanimous decision, while Jorge Cota beat Yudel Johnson in the other bout (also by UD). Jackson and Cota will meet in the finals on a later edition of The Next Round.

The series returns on Sept. 18.