HOLLYWOOD, Florida – Brandun Lee learned an invaluable, nearly costly lesson Saturday night.

Lee blamed a momentary lapse in concentration for allowing Will Madera to blast him with a right hand that caused the first knockdown of Lee’s career in the third round of their welterweight fight. That picturesque shot sent Lee to the canvas awkwardly, but the unbeaten boxer answered referee Christopher Young’s count pretty quickly and survived the final 15 seconds of that round once the action resumed.

The hard-hitting Lee believes he was “absolutely” on his way toward knocking out Madera before he got dropped with 27 seconds on the clock in the third round of a fight Showtime broadcast from Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.

“It’s just something that I need to remind myself of, you know, to – you gotta stay on your toes at all times,” Lee told BoxingScene.com. “I think I lost focus and overlooked him for that split second. Because the first round, you know, I was very cautious. And the first round, the first two rounds, the first three rounds were money, until I got hit.”

A resilient Lee (26-0, 22 KOs) got back in their fight during the fourth round and mostly boxed his way to a 10-round, unanimous-decision victory. Lee won by the same score, 98-91, according to all three judges.

“It shows that I have a lot of experience,” Lee said. “That’s something I would say, you know, because a lot of fighters, they’d be done for the rest of the fight or they’d be scared. I started boxing, as far as going forward, but I was still in the fight and still wanted to fight, 100 percent.”

The 24-year-old Lee, of La Quinta, California, realizes that he’ll have to make adjustments in the gym, particularly defensively, if he is to compete with more formidable opponents than Madera.

“After seeing the highlight, of course, keeping my left hand up, of course,” Lee said. “I know when I go back home, I’m gonna hear it from my mom. Keep my left hand up and you’ve always gotta be on your toes at all times.”

Lee praised Madera (17-2-3, 10 KOs) for his toughness. The Albany, New York native took Lee’s best shots and nearly pulled off what would’ve been a huge upset against a 30-1 favorite.

“I think he’s a very good opponent,” said Lee, who has gone the 10-round distance in back-to-back bouts after recording 15 straight knockouts. “Like I said in the press conference, he’s an opponent, at the end of the day, and a very good test for myself, to see where I’m at and what I need to work on in the gym.”

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.