Luis Melendez defeated Thomas Mattice on the undercard of the unification between Mikaela Mayer and Maiva Hamadouche in Las Vegas.
The Puerto Rican upstart (17-1, 13 KOs) notched the biggest win of his career when edging the Cleveland native (17-3-1, 13 KOs) by unanimous decision in an eight-round junior lightweight tilt.
All three judges scored the fight 77-75 for Melendez.
Having built an early lead, Melendez held off Mattice’s late rally. Mattice landed 37 more punches over the second half of the fight (81-44).
Further results:
Abdullah Mason (1-0, 1 KO), the 17-year-old southpaw lightweight prodigy from Cleveland, had an eye-opening professional debut, knocking out Jaylan Phillips (1-1, 1 KO) in the second round. Mason had Phillips pinned against the ropes and unloaded with a series of crosses.
Phillips’ knees buckled, and that was enough for referee Robert Hoyle to step in and prevent further carnage.
Las Vegas native Andres “Savage” Cortes (16-0, 9 KOs) had a fitting homecoming, knocking out Filipino veteran Mark Bernaldez (23-5, 17 KOs) in the third round of a junior lightweight bout.
Cortes snapped Bernaldez’s head back with a few crisp right hands, prompting referee Allen Huggins to step in. Bernaldez protested the stoppage, his first knockout defeat in more than three years.
Middleweight Ian Green (15-2, 11 KOs) upset the previously undefeated Tyler Howard (19-1, 11 KOs) by a near-shutout eight-round unanimous decision (79-72 2x and 80-71).
Howard had a point deducted in the fourth round for a shot after the bell. It didn’t get much better for him in the second half of the fight.
Rowdy Legend Montgomery (7-3-1, 5 KOs) lived up to his middle name.
In the third round, the Southern California super middleweight opened the card with a one-punch knockout over Martez McGregor (8-6, 6 KOs).
