By Miguel Maravilla and Jeff Zimmerman at ringside

Cuba’s Yones Tellez (6-0, 5 KOs) got things started by scoring a spectacular third-round knockout over a seasoned veteran Sergio Garcia (34-3, 14 KOs) of Spain in opening up the Showtime Pay per View telecast with a statement performnce.

The veteran Garcia began to get rough in the opening round as he hit Tellez behind the head, drawing a warning from referee Robert Hoyle. Garcia had a good round as he imposed his veteran tactics in the second, shoving his forearm on the face of Tellez and drawing another warning from the referee. The Cuban fighter did not let any of the roughhouse tactics bother him as a left hook, right hand combination by Tellez floored Garcia. Rising to his feet, Garcia continued but Tellez did not let him off the hook as he went for the finish forcing the referee to stop the fight at 2:02 of the third.

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Undefeated super middleweight contender Steven “So Cold” Nelson (19-0, 15 KOs) dominated late replacement Rowdy Legend Montgomery (10-5-1, 7 KOs) over ten rounds to win a unanimous decision and the vacant WBA Continental Americas title.

Nelson found his range midway through round one and it was target practice from there on out. He blasted Montgomery with straight and overhand rights and an occasional left hook all night.

Montgomery, who has never been knocked down or stopped, showed his durability and did have his moments, especially in round six. He had Nelson in the corner and landed some big shot as Nelson appeared to slow down. But that was short lived, as Nelson turned the tide and busted up the face of the awkward, lanky Montgomery.

Many times, the referee was in position to stop the fight, but Montgomery showed just enough fight to stay alive. In round ten, Nelson buckled the knees of Montgomery as he fell back towards the ropes and Nelson pounced on him. Nelson left it all out there in the ring to the final bell but could not get the knockout. He did get the hard-fought unanimous decision that read 99-91 twice and 100-90 to remain undefeated.

Nelson is one of Crawford’s best friends and stablemates and enjoyed the media tour with his childhood friend to LA and New York. He was also on the US Olympic team with Spence and has great respect for him. He is taking his childhood friend, Bud, in the fight. Nelson hopes this win will launch him into a title fight in the next year.

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Mexican super bantamweight prospect Jose Salas Reyes (13-0, 10 KOs) of Tijuana disposed of Aston Palicte (28-6-1, 23 KOs) in four rounds. Reyes began at a fast pace as he chased Palicte in the opening round. The pace continued in early on as Palicte began to let his hands go, Reyes adjusted as he boxed. Fighting from the southpaw stance in round three, Reyes showed more offense and backed the Filipino, drawing his attention with a straight left. Reyes let his hands go in the fourth as Palicte could just smile, shortly after a hard left hook from Reyes dropped Palicte as he was up but did not want to continue as referee Allen Huggins stopped the fight at 1:30.

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Lightweight Jabin Chollet (8-0, 7 KOs) out of San Diego stopped Michael Portales (3-2-1, 1 KOs) from San Jose, CA in round two of the scheduled six. After a slow first round from both fighters, Chollet found his range in the second with uppercuts and right hands. It was an uppercut and an overhand right by Chollet that stunned Portales and caused referee Robert Hoyle to stop the fight with Portales still on his feet. Chollet earned the TKO victory. Time was 1:58 in round two.

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Las Vegas lightweight prospect Demler Zamora (12-0, 9 KOs) won an eight round unanimous decision over Nokolai Buzolin (9-5-1, 5 KOs) of Brooklyn. It was all Zamora as he kept neutralizing Buzolin with his jab and hand speed. Buzolin picked it up in the final round as Zamora pressed, giving the Brooklyn fighter more opportunity to mix it up however it was Zamora the fought the cleaner and better fight in route to a decision win. After eight rounds, all three judges scored the bout 80-72.

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Welterweight Deshawn Prather (17-1, 2 KOs) from Kansas City, MO, scored a unanimous decision against Kevin Ventura (12-1, 8 KOs) out of Omaha, NE and “Bud” Crawford’s B&B Academy. Ventura controlled the first three rounds with his jab and an occasional right hand while Prather circled the ring. In the pivotal round four, Prather landed the biggest punch of the fight, a straight left hand that put Ventura on the canvas. Ventura recovered and hurt Prather with a solid right in round five. Ventura also appeared to control round six. However, all three judges scored it 57-56 for Prather who handed Ventura his first defeat of his career.

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In the opening bout from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, super featherweight Justin Viloria (3-0, 3 KOs) from Whittier, California stopped Sonora, Mexico’s Pedro Barragan (4-1, 2 KOs) in four rounds. A short right by Viloria sat Barragan down in the second, but he was quickly up and continued to fight. Viloria kept up the pace, attacking Barragan as the referee Robert Hoyle stepped in stop the fight at 41 seconds of the fourth.