By Jake Donovan

Philadelphia's Eric Hunter had his way with badly faded - and oft-troubled - Antonio Escalante, scoring three knockdowns en route to a 1st round knockout Friday evening in Indio, California.

The toughest part of the night for Hunter was surviving the heat from the arena lights as he was draped in a leather coat during pre-fight introductions. Once the bell sounded to begin the fight, Hunter turned up the heat on Escalante, who quite frankly should have called it a career years ago. 

Fighters can only make do with what's in front of them. In that regard, Hunter did his job. A leaping left hook produced the bout's first knockdown with just over a minute to go in the round. Escalante beat the count, but was back on the deck roughly 30 seconds later from a left hook to the body and right hand upstairs.

Upon rising from the second knockdown, Escalante channeled his inner (late) Diego Corrales, spitting out his mouthpiece in hopes of buying some time. With the clock stopped to reinsert the gumshield, all it did was prolong the inevtiable.

Hunter moved in for the kill, finishing off his punch drunk foe with a series of punches along the ropes. A final right hand to the jaw following vicious body shots was enough to prompt referee Ray Corona to mercifully halt the contest.

The official time was 2:45 of round one.

Hunter rolls to 21-3 (11KOs) with the win. The resurgent featherweight has now won four straight, with Friday's victory his first on the West Coast. His previous trip to California resulted in a disqualification loss to then-unbeaten prospect Luis Franco in 2010. 

As for Escalante, one can only hope he finds a way to fight the good fight well beyond the ropes. The Texan journeyman has now suffered knockout losses in four of his last five starts, as he is going on a very old 30 years of age. 

Life outside the ring has not treated him well, gaining frequent mentions in the "Boxers Behaving Badly" section of past

Fighting Words

columns from BoxingScene.com Senior Writer David Greisman. With clear evidence that he has no business continuing his career, the onus is now on his handlers to find something productive for him to do that doesn't require ever again lacing up a pair of boxing gloves. 

The bout headlined live on Fox Sports 1. 

UNDERCARD

Paul Valenzuela scored a mild upset with a six-round majority decision over Antonio Gutierrez in their middleweight rematch. 

Gutierrez managed a four-round win in their previous meet nearly two years ago, the lone loss of Valenzuela's career. The sequel was a far more telling tale, as Gutierrez was caught off guard by the aggression of his less experienced opponent. 

In the end, one judge saw it even while the other two judges landed in favor of Valenzuela, who improves to 7-1-1 (5KOs). Gutierrez suffers his first loss, falling to 18-1-1 (8KOs).

Abraham Lopez returned to old form in a 5th round knockout of Alfred Tetteh in the co-feature attraction 

of a Golden Boy Live! event Friday evening in Indio, California. 

A perfectly-placed left hook by Lopez put Tetteh down for the full 10-count, ending what was largely a one-sided affair for the unbeaten featherweight prospect.

The official time was 2:49 of round five. 

Taishan Dong had a much better showing than was the case earlier this month in Houston. Two weeks after struggling to a narrow four-round decision win over a sub .500 fighter, the 7'0" Dong returned with a 1st round knockout of Lance Gaush in the opening bout. 

The oversized Gauch was put flat on his back upon impact by a stiff Dong right hand. The Missouri-based heavyweight was down for several minutes as he was attended to by ringside physicians before being taken to a nearby hospital. 

The official time was 2:32 of round one. 

Dong improves 5-0 (3KOs) with the win, his third of 2015. The early ending marked his first knockout since November; Dong was extended the distance in each of his previous two starts. 

Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox