Fredrick Lawson rode an early lead all the way to the finish line.

A late-round surge by last minute opponent Estevan Villalobos fell just short on the scorecards as Lawson was able to make it to the finish line to earn a ten-round, unanimous decision. Judges Javier Alvarez (96-94), Jesse Reyes (97-93) and David Iacobucci (96-94) all scored for Lawson in their DAZN-televised bout fought above the welterweight limit Saturday evening at College Park Center at the University of Texas at Arlington.  

Villalobos was generally keeping himself active in the gym after finishing a previous camp with longtime high profile stablemate David Benavidez. Nothing was on his schedule until fight week, when he was asked if he could step in to face Lawson who was in need of an opponent. Lawson was due to face Raul Curiel and then Blair Cobbs, both of whom were unavailable for different reasons.

Interestingly, Villalobos—whose lone defeat came versus Cobbs nearly four years ago—was installed as an overwhelming betting favorite despite the late notice assignment. Lawson’s fighting style and underwhelming career did not instill confidence with bettors, though he ultimately had the last laugh as he was able to outbox the determined but crude Villalobos.

Both fighters had early success, landing well over 50 percent of their power shots. Lawson fought largely behind the jab for the duration of the fight, which was enough to control the action throughout the first half. Villalobos remained committed to a body attack, even at the expense of giving away earlier rounds to Lawson’s cleaner boxing.

Villalobos had Lawson hurt in round seven, the product of frequently connecting to the body. Lawson dramatically slowed down after effectively offering lateral movement for much of the night. The Ghana native returned to the jab in round eight and wisely tied up Villalobos whenever the fiery Mexican slugger closed the gap. A power surge by Villalobos closed out round eight. However, it came as blood continued to pour from a cut under his left eye.

Lawson continued to pump his jab in round nine, while Villalobos was mentally affected by the cut under his eye. Lawson cracked Villalobos with a chopping right hand, while Villalobos hurt Lawson with an overhand right. Villalobos found brief success after switching to southpaw as he’d randomly done throughout the fight.

Villalobos raced out of the corner in the tenth and final round, at a point where he clearly knew he needed a knockout to win. A right hand snapped back the head of Lawson, who was later taken down to the canvas when the two were tangled in the corner. Villalobos had Lawson hurt in the final minute, particularly the last 20 seconds as Lawson was on wobbly legs and warned by referee Neal Young to fight back. Lawson absorbed a final flurry before hearing the final bell to avoid a dramatic stoppage defeat.

Lawson is now 30-3 (23KOs) as he picked up his second consecutive win. Villalobos fell to 16-2-1 (12KOs) as he snapped a five-fight win streak.

Headlining the show, unbeaten lightweight contender William Zepeda (27-0, 23KOs) faces Panama’s Jaime Arboleda (19-2, 14KOs) in a scheduled twelve-round regional title fight.

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