(April 27, 2019) Robert Easter Jr. and Rances Barthelemy fought to a split-draw in their matchup for the vacant WBA Lightweight World Title Saturday on SHOWTIME from The Chelsea inside The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. The challenging fight to score was ruled 115-113 Barthelemy, 115-113 Easter and 114-114. The WBA 135-pound title remains vacant following the split decision. With both former world champions needing a win in a crossroads affair, neither fighter was able to pull the trigger in a matchup of talented counterpunchers. The tall, rangy lightweights competed on the outside for much of the 12-round bout, and while both relied on their reach to keep their opponent at bay, they failed to land many effective shots from the outside. The switch-hitting Cuban Barthelemy (27-1-1, 14 KOs), who fought defensively for most of the fight, transitioned to mostly southpaw in the third. The former two-division world champion’s most effective punches appeared to be body shots from the south