Emiliano Vargas made the most of his national television exposure Friday night.

Fernando Vargas’ youngest son displayed poise, speed and power on his way to stopping previously unbeaten Alejandro Guardado in the third round of their scheduled six-round bout on the Luis Alberto Lopez-Joet Gonzalez undercard at American Bank Center in Corpus Christi, Texas. The 19-year-old Vargas, who is widely viewed as an elite lightweight prospect, picked apart Guardado until referee Lee Rodgers stepped between them while a damaged Guardado was still standing.

The official time of the stoppage in the first fight of ESPN’s tripleheader was 1:07 of the third round.

Las Vegas’ Vargas (7-0, 6 KOs) won in the same arena where Fernando Vargas headlined a show in March 2005. Spain’s Guardado lost for the first time as a pro (5-1, 1 KO), but he had beaten a very low level of opposition prior to facing Vargas.

A counter left by Vargas hurt Guardado 30 seconds into the third round and made him stumble backward. Guardado tried to hold, but Vargas unloaded various power punches that eventually made Rodgers stop the fight to prevent Guardado from taking unnecessary punishment.

A left uppercut by Vargas knocked Guardado backward with just over a minute on the clock in the second round. Another left uppercut by Vargas landed less than 20 seconds later and made Guardado move away from him.

A right uppercut by Vargas backed up Guardado a little less than 40 seconds into the second round.

Vargas drilled Guardado with a straight right that snapped his head back with just over 20 seconds remaining in the first round. Vargas followed with a left hook to Guardado’s body.

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