Ismael Laguna vs. Roman Blanco
Ismael Laguna 136 lbs beat Roman Blanco 136 lbs by MD in round 10 of 10
- Date: 1968-11-15
- Location: Madison Square Garden, New York, New York, USA
- Referee: Jimmy Devlin 7-3
- Judge: Johnny Dran 5-5
- Judge: Tony Rossi 7-3
"The misguided fans who went on a bottle-throwing, seat-slashing binge in protest over the majority decision for Ismael Laguna, 136, of Panama over Roman Blanco, 136, of Venezuela spoiled what was otherwise a pretty good evening's entertainment at MSG. Blanco gave a good account of himself against the former lightweight champ in the last of the program's three 10-rounders. The well-muscled Venezuelan took the fight to Laguna from the outset and they mixed freely. But in mid-ring trading, it was Laguna who was boss. In the 10th Blanco seemed tired, but he continued to dig away gamely and with half a minute to go he stung Laguna with a hard right. However, Ismael was quickly firing his left jabs and hooks again, and Blanco had little left at the end. Blanco's gritty showing against Laguna would have been the talk of the town the next day if his supporters hadn't run amuck." -Boxing Illustrated, February 1969 issue
- Judge Johnny Dran scored the bout 5-5 in rounds and also had it even at 6-6 on supplemental points.
- Blanco accepted this fight on two day's notice when Laguna's original opponent, Bunny Grant, came down with Dengue Fever.
- The other two 10-rounders on this card featured Luis Rodriguez against Joe Shaw and Dario Hidalgo against David Melendez.
- Attendance - 8,478
- Gate - $39,800