Nicholas Walters dominates Jason Sosa, but settles for draw after judges rob him

VERONA, N.Y. - Nicholas Walters threw his hands up in the air in total disbelief.

What else could he do? He just dominated the fight over 10 rounds, but all he got for his effort was a draw with Jason Sosa in one of the worst decisions in recent memory at Turning Stone Resort & Casino.

Tom Schreck, an experienced judge, bizarrely scored it for Sosa, 96-94, while Don Ackerman and Wynn Kintz had it a draw. Paste BN Sports scored the HBO co-feature bout 100-90 for Walters, who dominated the action from the onset and out-landed Sosa in every round, per CompuBox.

"They all suck," Top Rank vice president Carl Moretti, who promotes both fighters, said of the judges. "They shouldn't judge again."

Said Walters, who suffered the first blemish on his record "I'm in total shock. I can't believe it. I was in total control of the fight. He was a good fighter, but I was never in any kind of danger, I was never hurt."

Walters, a former featherweight champion fighting at 130 pounds for the first time, was clearly the bigger, stronger man. He dug numerous stinging right hands to the midsection and was able to back Sosa up all night.

Sosa (18-1-4, 14 KOs) was game and kept charging forward, but never landed any punches of consequence, and most of his attempts were picked off by Walters' arms and elbows. Sosa landed 168 of 873 shots (19%), while Walters connected on 281 of 622 (45%).

"I thought I won the fight," Sosa, 27, said. "I was more active, more aggressive - got better shots in - so I'm disappointed with a draw."

Walters (26-0-1, 21 KOs) did a great job using his superior height and reach and was able to land punches while making Sosa hit air. The 29-year-old Jamaican repeatedly blasted Sosa with big right uppercuts and did tremendous damage to the body.

"I would like to think it's such a bad decision that it won't affect his next fight," Moretti said. "Francisco Vargas, (Takashi) Uchiyama, (Yuriorkis) Gamboa, it doesn't matter. He won tonight, only three blind mice didn't think he did."