Carlos Utria W10 Israel Mercado... To open up the PBC pay-per-view broadcast in Las Vegas, Colombia's Carlos Utria, 140.8 pounds, escaped with his undefeated record intact by narrowly outpointing Israel Mercado, 139.4, of Montclair, CA. Throughout the contest from the T-Mobile Arena, both Utria and Mercado were intent on throwing wild haymakers, making for some exciting moments. Because Utria (15-0, 11 KOs) mostly fought with his hands near his waist, leaving his chin wide open, Mercado tagged him with some eye-catching stingers. Utria is a hard puncher but his skills are still raw. He won the WBC Grand Prix tournament in Saudi Arabia last year, and played the aggressor for much of tonight's bout. Early on, Mercado fought on the backfoot focused on counter opportunities. Taking advantage whenever Utria’s punch output waned, Mercado really upped his tempo in the later rounds. The judges’ scorecards read 96-94 each way, with a somewhat wide 97-93 tally for Utria to give him the split decision verdict. Mercado saw his record dip to 13-2-2, 7 KOs.