Jamal "Shango" James of Minneapolis defeated Thomas Dulorme of Puerto Rico on a unanimous decision in a 12-round nationally televised bout for the vacant WBA interim welterweight title on Saturday night at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles.
James is now 27-1 and has won his past seven fights. The judges' scores were 115-113, 116-112 and 117-111.
At 6-2, James had a 4-inch height advantage and landed 204 punches to 115 for Dulorme, who kept attacking and pursuing James with mixed results. Dulorme's record dropped to 25-4-1.
Their fight was originally scheduled on April 11 at the Minneapolis Armory, but it was postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic.
James, ranked No. 9 in ESPN at his weight, was the favorite in the match and the TV commentators kept saying he was slightly ahead throughout the fight and, near the end, that Dulorme needed something dramatic to happen to win.
James outpunched Dulorme 9-5 in the first round.
But near the end of the second, Dulorme got James on the ropes and hit him with a number of punches. James went to the corner bleeding from his nose.
In the sixth round, referee Thomas Taylor warned Dulorme about hitting James behind the head several times. James landed at least three, four right hands to Dulorme's head.
