Keith Thurman and Leo Santa Cruz had big wins on pay-per-view this past weekend.
Thurman, a former unified welterweight champion, topped Mario Barrios in the main event from Las Vegas.
Santa Cruz, meanwhile, downed Keenan Carbajal in the co-headline fight.
In his first fight in over 30 months, the 33-year-old Thurman (30-1, 22 KOs) displayed the attributes that led him to the top of the 147-pound division. Thurman got off to a strong start and never relinquished control, at times punishing Barrios with hard shots.
Barrios (26-2, 17 KOs) had his moments in his welterweight debut, particularly in the eighth when a left hook to the body caused Thurman to back up. The 26-year-old slugger from San Antonio, Texas also showed grit, gamely fighting back despite Thurman’s heavy artillery.
Santa Cruz (38-2-1, 19 KOs) suffered a cut underneath his left eye and one along his right eyelid both from accidental headbutts.
Pay-per-view action also saw rising super welterweight sensation Jesus “Mono” Ramos (18-0, 15 KOs) deliver a spectacular performance in the biggest fight of his career. The 20-year-old Ramos remained undefeated by knocking out dangerous veteran Vladimir Hernandez (13-5, 6 KOs) at 2:21 of the sixth round.
In the pay-per-view opener, former two-division world champion Luis “Pantera” Nery dropped Carlos Castro in the first round on his way to a 10-round split decision win in a tactical battle between super bantamweights.
Preceding the pay-per-view, the PBC on FOX main event saw Luke Santamaria (13-2-1, 7 KOs) overcome a stiff challenge from Abel Ramos (27-5-2, 21 KOs) to win a 10-round unanimous decision in their welterweight encounter.
In the co-main event on FOX, super lightweight contender Omar “El Relámpago” Juárez (13-1, 5 KOs) won a hard-fought 10-round split decision over Ryan “Cowboy” Karl. Juarez controlled the early action, surviving a mid-fight surge from Karl (19-4, 12 KOs) to walk away with the victory.
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