By Jim Slattengren: In another unimpressive performance, welterweight contender Richard Gutierrez (24-1, 14 KOs) won a dull 10-round unanimous decision over Nicaraguan Jose Varela (23-3, 16 KOs) on Friday night at the Xtreme Indoor Karting, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The final judges’ scores were 99-91, 98-92 and 98-92 for the 29 year-old Gutierrez. The fight seemed to drag in the later rounds, when Gutierrez, ranked #10 in the International Boxing Federation welterweight division, faded badly turning the fight into a mauling, jab-fest.

However, Gutierrez did enough work to get the win, but it was hardly impressive. This was the second consecutive disappointing performance for Gutierrez, who before losing to Joshua Clottey in July 2006, was one of the top welterweight prospects in the division. However, Gutierrez hasn’t looked the same in his last two bouts, starting with his sluggish performance against Lucian Perez, whom he defeated by a boring 10-round unanimous decision in June 2007. Gutierrez’s fight with Varela on Friday night was supposed to make up for that off night – it didn’t.