By Francisco Salazar

Featherweight Carlos Castro scored the biggest win of his young career late Saturday night, stopping Jorge Diaz in the opening round at the Celebrity Theatre in Phoenix, Ariz.

Castro, who resides in the Phoenix area, improves to 16-0, 7 KOs.

On paper, Diaz was supposed to provide Castro with a decent test as he had faced the tougher opposition.

Castro went on the attack from the opening bell, putting Diaz on the defensive. Later in the first round, a combination staggered Diaz against the ropes. Castro followed up on a defenseless Diaz, prompting the fight to be stopped at 2:18.

Diaz falls to 18-5-1, 10 KOs. He has lost four of his last six bouts, including a draw.

In the co-feature, junior featherweight Francisco De Vaca remained unbeaten, winning an eight round unanimous decision over Jose Estrella.

De Vaca, who resides in the Phoenix area, dominated the fight over a game Estrella, who had faced the likes of unbeaten fighters Luis Nery, Oscar Negrete, and Diego De La Hoya.

All three judges scored the bout in favor of De Vaca, who improves to 16-0, 5 KOs.

Estrella drops to 15-12-1, 10 KOs.

In a battle featuring unbeaten junior featherweights, Daron Williams won a four round decision over Israel Valdez (2-1, 1 KO). All three judges scored the bout 39-36 in favor of Williams, who improves to 5-0, 2 KOs.

Francisco A. Salazar has written for Boxingscene.com since September of 2012 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (Calif.) Star newspaper, RingTV, and Knockout Nation. He can be reached by email at santio89@yahoo.com or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing