Elwin Soto makes the first defense of his junior flyweight title on Golden Boy Promotions’ Thursday night series that makes its debut appearance on OTT media service DAZN after previous showings on RingTV.com and Golden Boy's Facebook page. 

The recently crowned titlist from Mexico will face Philippines’ Edward Heno (14-0-5, 5KOs) in the evening’s main event, which airs live Thursday evening from Fantasy Springs Casino in Indio, California. The headliner marks the first fight for Soto (15-1, 11KOs) since dethroning Angel Acosta with a dramatic—and controversial—12th round stoppage this past June.

Puerto Rico’s Acosta (20-2, 20KOs) also appears on the show, now campaigning at flyweight as he faces Phillipines’ Raymond Tabugon (22-10-1, 11KOs) in a 10-round regional title fight.

Opening the DAZN livestream, Mexico’s Raul Curiel (8-0, 6KOs) remained unbeaten following a 7th round stoppage of Jeremy Ramos (11-8, 4KOs) in their scheduled eight-round contest.

Curiel—a 2016 Olympian from Mexico who trains under the watchful eye of Hall of Fame coach Freddie Roach—won every round prior to the stoppage, but was forced to work hard for the win. It showed in Ramos, a Puerto Rico-born spoiler now based out of Colorado Springs, Colorado, extending the welterweight prospect further than he’s ever been as a pro to date.

Poise was key as Curiel found his opening after fighting past round six for the first time ever, forcing Ramos to the ropes and landing a pair of body shots which forced his foe to take a knee. Ramos attempted to beat the count, but referee Jerry Cantu decided he was done for the night.

The official time was 1:15 of round seven.

Both fighters weighed at the junior middleweight limit, although Curiel—who turns 24 in December—confirmed after the bout his intentions to campaign in the welterweight division.

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox