Jaybrio Pe Benito TKO3 Abel Mejia... Undefeated lightweights went head-to-head in the main card opener and served up a spectacular finish as Jaybrio Pe Benito made a mockery of his underdog status to stop Abel Mejia in the third round. Pe Benito showcased his hand speed from the opening bell, and connected with some solid shots early as he used his quickness to consistently beat Mejia to the punch. And, with Mejia stepping in to go toe to toe in a bid to impose himself in the second round, Pe Benito timed a superb short left hook to put Mejia down and onto the seat of his pants right at the end of the round. Mejia came out of the corner for round three looking to re-establish himself, and the pair quickly got involved in another heavy-handed exchange. And, just as we saw at the end of the second round, Pe Benito stood firm, planted his feet, and answered with a huge shot. This time it was a huge right hand that spun Mejia's jaw and sent him down the canvas. Mejia gamely beat the count, but the referee saw that he was in no position to continue and mercifully waved off the contest 48 seconds into the round to spark wild scenes as Pe Benito celebrated a TKO victory. Pe Benito's finish improved his career record to 7-0, with five knockouts as he handed Mejia the first defeat of his career to send him home with his record reading 10-1.
Leo Ruiz TKO4 Casey Streeter ... Experienced middleweights went head to head in the final preliminary card matchup of the night, as Leo Ruiz claimed a fourth-round TKO victory over Casey Streeter in their eight-round 157-pound catchweight matchup. Streeter focused on speed and volume as he worked several multi-punch combinations through the opening rounds, while Mexico's Ruiz looked to dip and duck into range before ripping hard to the body and coming upstairs with clubbing shots. Following a tactical adjustment from his corner, Streeter started Round 3 looking to stay on the outside, but it appeared to have a detrimental effect on the Portland, Maine fighter's effectiveness, as he found himself out of range for his combinations. But, once he stepped back in and started to land his work again, Ruiz loaded up and hurt Streeter badly as he came close to finishing the fight. After a tough third round, Streeter's corner told him in no uncertain terms that if he continued to get clipped hard, he'd be pulled out of the fight, but in the end, it was the referee who made the decision before the corner. Ruiz loaded up and cracked Streeter with a huge straight right, and the official decided he'd seen enough and waved off the fight at the 1:23 mark of Round 4. Ruiz's fight-ending punch was his 100th shot to Streeter's head over those four punishing rounds. It gave Ruiz the ninth stoppage victory of his career as he improved his record to 17-1.
ADDITIONAL RESULTS
Texas middleweight Mark Beuke battled all the way to the scorecards with Antonio Woods (14-2) to claim the biggest win of his career. Beuke, whose three career defeats came via either split- or majority decision, battled to the final bell to earn a split-decision verdict that fell in his favor. After eight hard-fought rounds, the judges were called into action to decide the victor, and it was Beuke who got the nod, with the scorecards reading 77-75, 75-77, 77-75 to give the Texan a 13-3 record and extend his active win streak to ten fights.
Undefeated Mexican lightweight Oswaldo Molina used his physical advantages to great effect as he pitched a shutout on the scorecards to comprehensively outbox nineteen-year old Joshua Clark in their six-round lightweight contest. Molina is now 9-0.
Eighteen-year-old Mexican Emiliano Alvarado showed potential as he claimed a fourth round victory over New Jersey's Devin Gantt in their 122-pound matchup. The matchup was Alvarado's first bout against a southpaw, and a thumping left hook to the body quickly told the teenager he would have to keep his defenses in check against Gantt, who started aggressively and outstruck the Mexican through the first three minutes. Alvarado turned up the pressure in the fourth round as he forced Gantt backward with more heavy punches. Gantt attempted to stem the tide with some stiff shots of his own, but he was unable to halt the Mexican's relentless attacks. Eventually, an overwhelmed Gantt took an eight count from the referee and, when asked if he could continue, admitted that he could not. The bout was promptly waved off at the 1:24 mark, with Alvarado claiming the 10th win of his professional career.
In the opening bout of the night, undefeated Russian lightweight Dariial Kuchmenov extended his perfect professional record to 10-0 with a fourth-round TKO victory over Mexico's Jorge Lagunas (19-8)
