Rances Barthelemy cruises in title defense against David Saucedo

Rances Barthelemy probably didn't impress many who haven't seen him before tonight, but with a calculated and patient if altogether boring performance, he easily defended his IBF super featherweight title tonight in his first Showtime main event.

Barthelemy (21-0, 12 KO) won on scores of 120-108 across the board. BLH had it a clean sweep, too, 120-108 for Barthelemy. Saucedo (52-6-3, 8 KO) presented no challenge whatsoever, maybe landing a handful of good, clean shots the entire fight. And it wasn't even that he was so good defensively like countryman Omar Narvaez was when he came to the U.S. and lost to Nonito Donaire in a snoozer a few years ago. It was just a fight where neither man took real risks, and one man was so much more skilled than the other, that the fight never had a chance for any drama.

Once the fight was halfway in, too, we were looking at a situation where increasingly, we were aware that a guy who can't punch had only a knockout chance. That never helps.

Anyway, it's over. That's the good news.