Former world champion Danny "Swift" Garcia (34-1, 20 KOs) scored a ninth round knockout over former world champion Brandon 'Bam Bam" Rios (34-4-1, 24 KOs) in a WBC welterweight eliminator Saturday night at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. Feeling each other out in the early rounds Garcia boxed as Rios stalked. Garcia began to let his hands loose in round three as Rios continued to press. Closing the fifth round Rios and Garcia had a good exchange as both had some words after the bell. Rios roughed up Garcia on the inside as he backed him to the ropes continuously.
Garcia was sticking and moving past the halfway point landing flush as Rios continued to stalk. In round eight Garcia had a good round jabbing and countering but in the ninth round Garcia landed fully extended flush right hand as Rios hit the canvas and got up staggered referee Kenny Bayless waived the bout at 2:25 of the ninth.
WBC super middleweight champion David Benavidez (20-0, 17 KOs) won a unanimous decision over Ronald Gavril (18-3, 14 KOs) in their rematch. Benavidez boxed behind the jab as Gavril pressed. A right uppercut followed by a left hook staggered Gavril in round four as Benavidez stayed on top of him. Benavidez continued his dominance of Gavril halfway through as he was on the receiving end limiting his punches. Late in the fight in round eight Benavidez calmly began to pick Gavril with body shots following upstairs busting his nose. In the championship rounds Gavril showed some rally but it was too late as Benavidez kept his distance and fought conservatively in route a unanimous decision. Scores were 120-108, 120-108, and 119-109.
Cuba's Yordenis Ugas (21-3, 10 KOs) stopped Philadelphia's Ray Robinson (24-3, 12 KOs) in a IBF welterweight eliminator. An overhand right by Ugas in the opening round sent Robinson to the canvas as he got up both fighters finished the round trading away. Things got wild at the end of round four as Robinson and Ugas traded, Robinson hit Ugas clearly after the bell knocking him down. Referee Robert Bryd deducted a point. In the seventh round Ugas dropped Robinson for the second time as he got up but Ugas continued to attack referee Robert Byrd waived the bout at
Light heavyweights Edwin Rodriguez (30-2, 20 KOs) of Boston and Lionell Thompson (19-5, 11 KOs) of Buffalo, New York squared off and went the distance in a scheduled ten round bout. Rodriguez stalked and chased throughout the fight as Thompson boxed keeping his distance. In the later rounds Rodriguez began to chop down Thompson cornering him and landing big punches. Scores were 97-93, 97-93, and 96-94 as Rodriguez wins a unanimous decision.
Las Vegas's lightweight Ladarius Miller (14-1, 5 KOs) scored a second round knockout over Carlos Padilla (16-6-1, 10 KOs) of Columbia. A straight left by Miller dropped Padilla as he got up referee Russell Mora waived the bout at 2:04.
Lightweight Andres Cortes of Las Vegas (7-0, 4 KOs) Fatiou Fassinou (8-9, 4 KOs) of Benin. Cortes was dominant in his performance and stayed busy on top of Fassinou as he circled the ring throughout the fight. All three judges scored the bout 60-54.
Sulaiman Segawa (9-0, 3 KOs) of Uganda and Brian Gallegos (6-1, 5 KOs) squared off and went the distance in a scheduled six round super featherweight bout. In what was a non fan friendly fight Gallegos and Segawa attempted to outbox each other for six rounds. Judges scored the bout 58-56, Gallegos, 58-56 Segawa, and 58-56 as Segawa pulls off the split decision.
Middleweight Jonathan Esquivel (7-0, 6 KOs) of Anaheim, California stopped Cameron Burroughs (4-3, 3 KOs) in two rounds. Esquivel attacked an unresponsive Burroughs as a barrage of punches forced referee Robert Byrd to stop the fight at 1:58 of the second.
In the opening bout from the Mandalay Bay Events Center junior middleweight Joe Spencer (1-0, 1 KO) of Grand Rapids, Michigan made his pro debut with a stoppage over Uriel Gonzalez (1-3-1, 1 KO)of Sonora, Mexico. Spencer dropped Gonzalez in the closing seconds of the opening round. In round two Spencer continued to have his way as Gonzalez's corner threw in the towel referee Benji Estevez 2:12 of the second.