Usyk vs Witherspoon results: Jessica McCaskill wins majority decision over Erica Farias in rematch

Hometown fighter Jessica McCaskill retained her WBC and WBA junior welterweight titles in a rematch with Erica Farias, but the fight wasn’t nearly as entertaining as their first meeting one year ago at the same venue in Chicago.

McCaskill (8-2, 3 KO) got the majority decision win here, taking scores of 96-92 and 97-91, with the third card even, 94-94. Bad Left Hook scored the fight for McCaskill, 95-93 on two separate cards.

Farias (26-4, 10 KO) hadn’t fought in a year since that first meeting, and while the 35-year-old Argentine veteran and former titleholder started OK, she seemed to tire quickly and relied on a ton of sloppy holding, breaking any chance of the fight developing a watchable rhythm.

The holding also got Farias docked a point in the fourth round, but that point came back in the sixth, when referee Christian Curiel took a point from McCaskill for a rabbit shot. Curiel’s lack of assertiveness in the ring was criticized heavily by retired referee Steve Smoger, now working as a rules analyst for DAZN.

“It felt like a WWE wrestling match,” McCaskill said after the fight. “I just wanted to come out here and brawl and put on a good show for the fans. I don’t feel like they had a lot of that tonight, and I apologize. She was tired, she gassed a lot, complained a lot, and held me. She was tired and couldn’t put on a performance tonight. I wish I could’ve put on a lot more.”

Asked what she wanted to do next, McCaskill said she’d like to rematch Katie Taylor, who beat McCaskill in 2017 at lightweight, and also mentioned Amanda Serrano and welterweight champion Cecilia Braekhus.

“We’re always up for the big names,” she said. “We’re up for McCaskill-Taylor II. We’re looking for Amanda Serrano. Cecilia Braekhus, big names, we want to make history in boxing.”

CompuBox saw McCaskill, 35, landing 151 of 435 total punches, a 35% connect rate. Farias connected on 127 of 393 total shots, landing at a 32% clip.