By Gilbert Manzano

LAS VEGAS — In a battle of unbeaten featherweights, Aram Avagyan outlasted hometown fighter Francisco Esparza by unanimous decision on Saturday.

Avagyan overcame an early knockdown to keep his WBC International Silver title with scores of  97-92, 96-93 and 96-93. The 10-round bout was part of the Saul “Canelo” Alvarez-Daniel Jacobs undercard at T-Mobile Arena.

Esparza, a Las Vegas native, left his mark early by connecting on a left hook that dropped Avagyan in the second round. But Avagyan quickly recovered and had Esparza moving backwards by the sixth round.

Avagyan controlled the final four rounds with a flurry of punches as a winded Esparza struggled to keep pace.

Alexis Espino opened the Alvarez-Jacobs undercard with an impressive unanimous decision victory against Billy Wagner. The judges scored it 39-35, 39-34 and 39-35.  

Espino, a Las Vegas native, took control of the super middleweight matchup after rocking Wagner with a left hook in the second round that led to Wagner hitting the canvas seconds later. But the point Espino gained from the knockdown was immediately taken because Espino landed a punch while Wagner was down.  

Espino continued to punish Wagner with quick combinations to the Massachusetts native’s head in the final two rounds.

In the opening round, Espino and Wagner stood in the middle of the ring and traded jabs as they tried to figure each other out. Espino landed the first power punch of the four-round bout when he connected on a right hand that snapped Wagner’s head in the final minute of the round.

“I think I give myself a C+ for this event,” Espino said. “I could have done better. I should have pressed the action more. It was a learning experience and I’m happy I got the four rounds in.”

Espino improved to 2-0 and Wagner suffered his first career defeat to drop to 1-1.