Javier Martinez went the distance again Saturday night to remain unbeaten.

The southpaw from Milwaukee hammered out a six-round points victory over Marco Delgado at Palms Casino Resort’s Pearl Concert Theater in Las Vegas. Judges Adalaide Byrd (60-54), Tim Cheatham (59-55) and Steve Weisfeld (59-55) all scored Martinez the winner by comfortable margins in a nondescript fight ESPN+ streamed as part of the Janibek Alimkhanuly-Denzel Bentley undercard.

Martinez improved to 8-0 (2 KOs) and went the distance in a fourth consecutive contest. Delgado (7-5, 5 KOs), of Turlock, California, has lost four fights in a row, all by unanimous decision.

It was obvious by the time the sixth and final round began that the durable Delgado would take Martinez the distance.

Martinez’s straight left hand backed up Delgado 1:10 into the fifth round. Martinez hammered Delgado with back-to-back right hands to the body with just under a minute to go in the fifth round.

A hard right to the body by Martinez got around Delgado’s guard with approximately 45 seconds to go in the fourth round. Delgado was active and aggressive in the fourth round, yet he didn’t land many clean punches.

Martinez’s thudding right to the body landed 1:20 into the third round.

Martinez’s right hook clipped Delgado with just over a minute to go in the second round. Ruiz forced Delgado’s trainer to cut off two pieces of his fighter’s dangling braids 37 seconds into the second round.

Ruiz warned Martinez for a low blow with just under 20 seconds to go in the first round. After the first round ended, Ruiz admonished Delgado for lifting Martinez off the canvas just before the opening round concluded.

In the fight prior to Martinez’s victory, Floyd Diaz delivered the type of finish he needed in the fight after the brash, unbeaten junior featherweight was tested by Juan Hernandez Martinez.

Diaz drilled Edgar Joe Cortes with a counter right hand that knocked Cortes to the seat of his trunks 58 seconds into the fourth round of their six-rounder at Palms Casino Resort’s Pearl Concert Theater in Las Vegas. Cortes reached his feet, but referee Mike Ortega determined that he had taken too many punches to continue.

Las Vegas’ Diaz improved to 8-0 and recorded his third knockout. Cortes (9-7-1, 1 KO, 1 NC), of Millville, New Jersey, lost by knockout or technical knockout for the fourth time in nine years as a pro.

The bout between Diaz and Cortes was reasonably competitive prior to the stoppage.

Cortes connected with a straight left hand in an exchange with about 50 seconds to go in the third round. Diaz drilled Cortes with a right hand just before the second round ended.

Diaz nailed Cortes with a hard right to the body a little less than 45 seconds into the first round. Cortes caught Diaz with a straight left with just over a minute remaining in the opening round.

In the bout before Diaz defeated Cortes, Charlie Sheehy didn’t need a single round to take out Markus Bowes.

Sheehy, a lightweight prospect from Brisbane, California, knocked Bowes to the canvas and later stopped him while Bowes was still standing just 1:37 into their scheduled four-rounder.

An aggressive Sheehy (5-0, 4 KOs) wobbled Bowes with a right hand barely 15 seconds into their fight. Another right hand by Sheehy buckled Bowes’ legs and made him go down to one knee 1:10 into the first round.

Bowes (2-1, 2 KOs), of Roxboro, North Carolina, beat referee Allen Huggins’ count. Sheehy continued to assault him, however, which led to Huggins moving between them to prevent Bowes from taking unnecessary punishment.

Earlier Saturday, Karlos Balderas extended his winning streak against a game veteran.

Balderas stopped Esteban Sanchez in the eighth round of a fight in which Sanchez suffered a first-round knockdown and absorbed a lot of punishment. Referee Raul Caiz Jr. stepped between them to halt the one-sided action after Balderas blasted Sanchez with a right hand a minute into the eighth round.

Their lightweight fight was officially halted at 1:02 of the eighth and final round.

ESPN+ streamed Balderas’ win as the second of eight undercard bouts before Janibek Alimkhanuly defends his WBO middleweight title against England’s Denzel Bentley in the main event.

The 26-year-old Balderas (14-1, 12 KOs), a 2016 U.S. Olympian from Santa Maria, California, has won five consecutive fights since Rene Tellez Giron upset him by sixth-round knockout in December 2019 at Toyota Arena in Ontario, California.

The 24-year-old Sanchez (18-3, 8 KOs), of Conroe, Texas, was stopped in a second straight fight. Elite lightweight prospect Keyshawn Davis (6-0, 5 KOs) beat Sanchez by sixth-round technical knockout in his prior appearance, which occurred April 30 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

In the round prior to the stoppage, Balderas rocked Sanchez with a right hand just after the midway mark of the seventh round, and another one with less than 30 seconds later. Balderas landed a low left 45 seconds into the seventh round, which drew a warning.

Balderas blasted Sanchez with a right hand and then a stiff left that moved Sanchez backward with just over a minute on the clock in the sixth round.

Sanchez’s hard right to the body made Balderas take an awkward step with about 30 seconds to go in the fifth round. Balderas came back by nailing Sanchez with both a right and a left that snapped back Sanchez’s head toward the end of the fifth round.

A left hook to the body by Balderas caused Sanchez to move away from him 1:20 to go in the fourth round. Balderas set the tone early in the previous round with a left hook to the body about 15 seconds into it.

Balderas blasted Sanchez with a left-right combination that backed him up with just under 25 seconds on the clock in the second round.

A counter left hook by Balderas wobbled Sanchez with 38 seconds to go in the first round. Another left hook and then a right hand sent Sanchez into a squatting position and counted as a knockdown with 38 seconds remaining in the first round.

Sanchez seemed OK when he got up, though, and drilled Balderas with a right hand before the first round ended.

In the first fight Saturday, gigantic heavyweight prospect Antonio Mireles made quick work of Eric Perry. The 6-foot-9, 269.6-pound Mireles dropped and stopped Eric Perry just 2:26 into their six-round fight.

An overhand left by Mireles (6-0, 6 KOs), of Des Moines, Iowa, knocked Perry into the ropes with just under 55 seconds to go in the opening round. Perry moved away from Mireles, but Mireles landed two more straight lefts that sent Perry to the canvas, eventually face first.

Perry slowly attempted to get up, but he couldn’t beat Huggins’ count.

Perry, of Pearland, Texas, lost for the first time in seven professional fights (5-1-1, 5 KOs). 

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