Dusty Hernandez-Harrison vs. Tommy Rainone: Winner, Scorecard from Throne Boxing

Welterweight prospect Dusty Hernandez-Harrison protected his undefeated record on Friday night, scoring a victory over veteran puncher Tommy Rainone via unanimous decision in the main event of the debut card from Jay Z's Roc Nation Sports. 

Hernandez-Harrison (25-0, 13 KOs) capped the eminent emcee's first foray into boxing promotion—the beginning of a three-part series dubbed "Throne Boxing"—with an workmanlike victory over Rainone (22-6-1, 4 KOs) that lacked energy but did display the young Washington D.C. prospect's potential in a few spots. Hernandez-Harrison earned the vacant WBC Continental Americas welterweight title for his efforts.

ESPN's Dan Rafael provided a look at the scorecard:

Roc Nation Sports did what it could to add some flair to the event, trotting out legendary announcer Michael Buffer and featuring a live musical interlude from Brooklyn rapper Fabolous just prior to the main event. 

For a fight night with so much energy and promotional muscle behind it, the 10-round main event was a bit of a letdown.

Rainone gave up a significant height and reach advantage to Hernandez-Harrison, as Fox Sports 1's tale of the tape shows:

Still, it took some time for Hernandez-Harrison to really dig in and take it to Rainone. The first two rounds were rather slow and tepid, with Hernandez-Harrison perhaps wary of the experience of a fighter 15 years his senior. Former NFL quarterback Shaun King was not happy with the lack of action:

Hernandez-Harrison opened up a bit in the third round, landing a solid right straight at about the halfway mark and followed it up with a pair of left hooks that had plenty of power behind them.

Rainone, not a power puncher by any stretch, appeared content with bouncing around the ring and tying up his opponent when Hernandez-Harrison tried to work the body. Newsday's Bobby Cassidy noted the difficulties of fighting the crafty lefty:

The strategy worked well for the first four rounds, but it led to a fairly drab encounter early on as Hernandez-Harrison appeared reluctant to let his hands go and try to land a few combinations. SB Nation's Luke Thomas found time to comment on the event aesthetics:

Hernandez-Harrison, still just a 20-year-old pup despite the 24 professional bouts to his credit heading into this match, was perhaps frustrated by Rainone's movement and the awkward angles that comes with fighting a southpaw. He had a bit of success toward the end of the fifth round, walking down Rainone and unloading a few well-leveraged uppercuts.

Hernandez-Harrison put together his best round in the seventh. He backed Rainone into the ropes late in the round and finally unloaded, leading with a long right hand and landing a pair of crushing hooks, one from either side. Rafael noted the fight was Hernandez-Harrison's to lose at this point:

Rainone did little to challenge his opponent, and the moments where it looked like he could press an advantage with his speed and movement were shorter than leprechauns. Hernandez-Harrison had plenty in the tank by the 10th and final round, dominating Rainone and earning an unsurprising decision victory.

Roc Nation Sports definitely has some unique ideas when it comes to putting together a boxing card, but the most important aspect of the final product will be the in-ring action.

In this regard, the main event was a letdown. Hernandez-Harrison has plenty of time to work his way up the welterweight ranks, but he didn't show enough of a spark to earn a high-profile bout anytime in the near future. However, he did tell RingTV.com's Andreas Hale prior to the bout that he intends to up the ante in terms of the quality of his opponents.

"I want to fight just as many times this year as I did last year,” he said. “Obviously the quality of opponents can’t go backwards so the fights will be tougher."

His win on Friday night should give him a solid base from which to challenge a stronger boxer. Rainone will almost certainly fade back into relative obscurity after this bout.