James de la Rosa lives to fight another despite some tense moments late in his fight…

The 26-year-old half-Mexican Middleweight boxer dominated Mexican boxer Alfredo Angulo throughout their bout, but had to hang on after a few rough moments in the final two rounds to win a unanimous decision.

de la Rosa (23-2, 13 KOs) won 99-89, 98-90 and 96-92, but was in big trouble in the ninth and 10th rounds against Angulo (22-5, 18 KOs), who was moving up to middleweight and lost his third fight in a row. He was attempting to rebound after back-to-back knockout losses to Erislandy Lara and Canelo Alvarez.

de la Rosa, of San Benito, Texas, started fast and dropped Angulo just as the bell ended the second round when he landed two left hands that sent his opponent reeling into the ropes, which held him up. de la Rosa continued to go to his combinations and repeatedly knocked Angulo’s head back while taking very little in return.

In the seventh round, referee Russell Mora docked a point from Angulo, whose face was getting badly marked up, for a low blow. And after the eighth round, Virgil Hunter, Angulo’s trainer, told him the deal in the corner: “If you don’t knock him out, your career is over. Go get him for me.”

Angulo tried and landed some heavy shots that wobbled de la Rosa in the ninth, but he survived.

Angulo, 32, was all over De La Rosa in the 10th and badly staggered him in the final minute, but de la Rosa stayed on his feet for a dramatic finish.

“I’m proud of myself,” De La Rosa said. “I felt I won it easy. It was a lot easier than I thought it would be. I fell off at the end. I wanted to put on a good show. That was my fault. I hurt my hand in the second round. I fought through it. That’s boxing.”