Highly-rated super middleweight contender Gilberto Ramirez pitched a near shutout against Gevorg Khatchikian over 10 rounds, winning a surprisingly easy unanimous decision. “Zurdo” used his reach and angles to keep his foe off balance throughout and picked him apart from the start.
Saul “Kid Dynamite” Rodriguez Jr. was sensational in blowing out Ivan Najera in the first. A perfect counter left hook dropped his foe during an exchange and when Najera (16-2, 8 KOs) was allowed to continue, Rodriguez drilled him with a three-punch combo, flooring him again. Referee Kenny Bayless never bothered counting. The end came officially at 2:06 of the first, allowing the young lightweight to improve to 19-0-1 with his 14th knockout.
In other action, welterweight contender Konstantin Ponomarev (29-0, 13 KOs) edged Ramses Agaton (17-3-3, 9 KOs) via majority decision; junior lightweight contender Casey Ramos (21-0, 5 KOs) won a lopsided unanimous eight-round nod over Adones Aguelo (24-13-2, 16 KOs); Oleksander Gvozdyk (8-0, 4 KOs), a 2012 Olympic bronze medalist, scored a third round TKO (:50) over Cleiton Conceicao (20-8-2, 16 KOs); and finally, Toka Kahn Clary (17-0, 11 KOs) dropped and forced a stoppage of fellow junior lightweight Sergio Lopez (18-11-1, 12 KOs) in between rounds two and three.