However, the 2020 Olympian didn't look particularly good doing it in a boring fight.

The bout followed a pattern from beginning to end, Hicks (12-2, 7 KOs) throwing jabs from a distance with no intention of mixing it up and Isley (17-0, 6 KOs) throwing many more punches than his opponent but having difficulty getting inside and landing cleanly.

The judges – who scored it 97-92, 96-93 and 96-93 – obviously rewarded Isley because he pushed the action (if you want to call it that) and landed more punches.

The only memorable blows were a right hand from Hicks that rocked Isley in the second round and a left from Isley that stunned his opponent in the following round. And Isley was docked a point for kidney punching in Round 5.

Outside of that, the fight was forgettable. That's certainly how the fans at at State Farm Arena felt. They started booing in the later rounds because neither man was taking enough risks get their attention, which was the last thing Isley wanted.

The WBC's No. 9 middleweight, who is rated No. 5 by The Ring, had hoped to make a strong statement that would enable him to move significantly closer to a title fight.

However, the only thing he demonstrated is that he can find a way to do enough to beat a reluctant opponent.

In other preliminary fights, Ashleyann Lozada, a talented 2024 Olympian for Puerto Rico, outboxed and outworked tough, but limited veteran Paulette Cuesta (196-1, 4 KOs) to win a near-shutout 10-round junior featherweight fight.

Lozada (5-0, 1 KO) won by scores of 100-90, 100-90 and 99-91, meaning the 35-year-old lost one round on only one card.

And Caroline Veyre (11-2, 0 KOs) lost her WBC 130-pound title by disqualification against Bernice Ferreira (11-0, 4 KOs) at 1:04 of Round 8 of a scheduled 10-rounder.

The back-and-forth fight was competitive but Veyre, a 2020 Olympian for Canada, held incessantly. Referee Malik Waleed docked Veyre two points before finally waiving off the fight.

Ferreira, from South Africa, was fighting for a world title for the first time.