Ex-world title challenger Roman, who has eleven losses on his record, cut and hurt De Leon on his way to a punishing late victory, the 46th of his rollercoaster career and certainly one of the best.
The 28 year-old made it seven KO’s in eight wins since suffering his last defeat to Dante Jardon in 2012 and picked up a fringe version of the World Boxing Council super-featherweight title in the process.
For De Leon, 33, this further setback in his career, which comes on the back of his second round capitulation against Juan Manual Lopez, spells the final act of a standout career that included world titles at two weight classes.
Elsewhere in Tacoma Washington, another former world champion, Steve ‘2 Pound’ Forbes lost for the thirteenth time in his career via a unanimous decision win over Emmanuel Lartey over ten rounds.
The 37 year-old sparring parter to the likes of Saul Alvarez, Manny Pacquiao and Ruslan Provodnikov dropped to 35-13 after the judges came back with scores of 99-90 and 98-91 in favour of Lartey.
Two other former recognised title holders and current welterweights, Joan Guzman and Randall Bailey, saw their scheduled bouts fall apart earlier in the week. Guzman was set to face Said Ouali, whilst Bailey was pencilled in to battle Fredrick Lawson.
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