MARIO Barrios’ title unification plans against Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis and Eimantas Stanionis took a hit last night as he was held to a split draw by Abel Ramos.

Barrios started strong and dropped Ramos early, but his defensive leaks were again exposed as the Texan was forced to overcome a sixth-round knockdown.

Judge Mike Ross scored 116-110 for the champion, while Javier Alvarez totalled 114-112 for Ramos. Douglas Robinson could not split them at 113-113 as Barrios escaped with his WBC welterweight title.

Huge for the weight, Barrios got the right hand working well in the opening round as Ramos’ knees temporarily buckled. The challenger’s glove touched the canvas for what should’ve been scored a knockdown.

Barrios, trained by Bob Santos, found success with that same shot in round two, dropping Ramos for real this time at the session’s close after disguising the shot behind a short left hook.

Battle-weary Ramos managed to get the head moving and land some shots in the fifth, but Barrios’ left jab kept him at range. That was until Ramos roared back into the contest in round six when a thudding right hand shook Barrios up and sent him down for a knockdown.

Loving his front foot ascendancy, Ramos continued pushing forward, landing two-fisted assaults through the 10th as Barrios tried to plant his feet and reestablish the jab-right hand. Ramos was not fooled and knew the champion was tentative.

The pair punched it out in a thrilling final round as the crowd rose to show appreciation. Barrios’ face was swelled, with blood smeared across both men at the conclusion. They each threw over 750 punches.

“Hats off to him. It was a hell of a performance,” said Barrios. “He’s a puncher, he definitely can crack. We could run it back. It would be a hell of a fight.”

Abel Ramos added: “I had trouble with my shoulder in the camp, so I had to warm up a bit.”