STUDIO CITY, Calif. – With a precise left hook to the liver in the fourth round, Erick De Leon knocked out Jose Salinas to remain undefeated Friday night. The junior lightweight contest was the main event of a “Solo Boxeo” card held at the Sportsman’s Lodge.

De Leon (15-0, 9 knockouts), a Mexican southpaw fighting out of Detroit, looked poised starting the bout that was scheduled for eight rounds. He consistently pumped his jab throughout the fight, but mixed in some quick one-two combinations aimed to hurt Salinas. A left to the body and right hand over the top in the first round startled Salinas and wowed the crowd in the same moment.

The middle of the ring was controlled by De Leon the entire fight, and in the second round he started to whip his left hand to the pit of Salinas’ stomach persistently. The punches even came in succession, and all Salinas could do at one point was brace for the shot. Salinas (10-3-1, 5 KOs) couldn’t do much offensively with the slick defensive skills De Leon showed when not pumping that jab. Still, the 26-year-old from Las Cruces, New Mexico, was at least hanging with De Leon. But that was until one shot ended it.

Photo by German Villasenor

Salinas was writhing in pain after the swift left hook to the body abruptly landed early in the fourth round. Referee Jack Reiss was over him counting to 10, but it was clear that Salinas couldn’t get up. De Leon saw that, and in the middle of the count, climbed the turnbuckle in celebration.

Evan Torres handed Bryan “La Rata” Flores his first defeat after earning a split-decision (58-56, 59-55, 55-59) nod. The six-round middleweight contest was the swing bout of the television broadcast.

In the opening bout of the UniMas card, Arnold Barboza Jr. was given a nice test against Johnny Rodriguez, and the local welterweight prospect was forced to earn a unanimous decision win with scores of 79-73, 79-73, and 78-74.

Photo by German Villasenor

On the road from Denver, Rodriguez came out of the gate swinging a lead left hook, and for the entire first round it had Barboza reeling back a bit. Once the 25-year-old from South El Monte started to establish a jab in the second round, he was slowly able to take control of the fight. It didn’t happen quickly, however. Barboza was able to flash a lead uppercut once he found his distance and Rodriguez took the shots well, but he had a knot under his right eye as he made his way to the stool after the third.

Barboza (15-0, 5 KOs) started to slow down Rodriguez with thudding body shots in the middle rounds. It was an effective attack, but even though the steam was draining out of Rodriguez’s punches, his will was never deterred. He bit down as he tried to go inside late in the fight, and resorted to some pushing and clinching in order to try and catch Barboza with a game-changing shot. Spent by the seventh round, that shot never came for Rodriguez, but with the left side of his face reddened, Barboza was given a reminder that he was in a tough fight.

Kevin “El Torero” Valle earned a shutout unanimous decision win (40-36, 40-36, 40-36) over Gabriel Gutierrez in a lightweight contest.

Fighting out of Los Angeles, Valle (3-0), 23, brought forth an action fight and showed an innate ability to mix up his attack to the body. Like all his past opponents, however, Gutierrez (4-5, 3 KOs) was able to withstand the clean power shots throughout the four-rounder.

2016 Olympic gold medalist, Robson “Niño” Conceicao, sent Aaron Ely to the canvas three times before the fight was stopped by referee Jack Reiss in the second round. The junior welterweight contest was scheduled for six rounds.

Conceicao (2-0, 2 KOs) was thirsty for action in his second fight as a pro, and his aggressive combinations were as wild as they were effective against the guy in front of him. An overhand right to the temple sent Ely (3-2) to the canvas in the last minute of the first. After getting up, he endured countless shots to the body and a flurry sent him back to the mat in the final seconds of the round before the bell saved him. Conceicao was able to get him out of there with a final right hand to the head in the second round’s opening moments.

Devon Lee scored a perfect one-two combination that knocked out Dean Risher in the first round. The junior welterweight bout was scheduled to go four.

Fighting out of Sacramento, California, Lee (2-0, 2 KOs) wasn’t deterred by the aggressive fight Risher gave him.The 22-year-old quickly made his handspeed advantage known, but Risher still looked for a big shot. It never came close, however, and once Lee landed a perfect left jab, straight-right combo, Risher was down on the canvas and counted out.

In the opening bout of the Top Rank-promoted card, Bakhram Murtazaliev knocked out Josue Obando in the fourth round to remain undefeated. The super middleweight bout was scheduled for six rounds.

Murtazaliev (8-0, 6 KOs) was aggressive to start, and he caught Obando’s chin with a right hand in the opening round for the fight’s first knockdown. Obando (14-13-1, 11 KOs) hung in there with the Russian prospect in the second and third rounds, but once the 24-year-old caught him clean, the Mexican crumbled.

Walk-out bout results:

Alexander Besputin (6-0, 5 KOs) UD 6 (58-56, 60-54, 60-54) Gilberto Pereira (12-5, 9 KOs)

Josue Morales (4-4-3) D 4 Alexander Enriquez (3-0-2)

Maxim Dadashev (6-0, 5 KOs) TKO 6 Jerome Rodriguez (7-5-3, 2 KOs)