Sadam Ali wins third straight on comeback trail

Welterweight Sadam Ali picked up his third straight win as he tries to get himself back into contention at 147 pounds, beating Johan Perez on Saturday night’s edition of Golden Boy Boxing on ESPN.

Ali (25-1, 14 KO) won by unanimous decision over 10 rounds, capturing a minor WBA title in the process. The three wins have all come since last September, following a March 2016 setback against Jessie Vargas on HBO.

"I give myself a 6 tonight; I felt off," said Ali after the fight. "Perez was tough, very tall and awkward, and I was able to see that I have a lot to work on to be honest. I felt that my movement wasn't right. I felt slow and off balance. I'm not too happy with my performance. I don't want to make excuses, but my performance wasn't as good as I expected. Now it's time to go back to the gym and work on things I need to work on. That's how I'll get better, by seeing my mistakes and getting back to work in the gym.

"I need rugged fights like this. Johan might not have a big name but he came to fight and not only for a paycheck. So, these kinds of fights are exactly what I need to get into title contention."

Perez drops to 22-4-2 (15 KO) with the defeat.

In the co-feature, Eddie Gomez (20-3, 11 KO) was victim of something of an upset against Alejandro Barrera (29-3, 18 KO), with Barrera winning a split decision over 10 rounds. Gomez, 24 and once considered a hot prospect, has now lost two of his last three fights, and is just 4-3 in his last seven, dating back to 2014. Barrera hadn’t fought since November 2015, when he was stopped by Errol Spence Jr in Spence’s 19th pro fight.