By Keith Idec

LAS VEGAS – Joseph Diaz Jr. won Saturday night, but in rather unremarkable fashion.

Diaz definitely did more than enough to score a points victory over previously unbeaten Manuel Avila, but the skilled southpaw did little to entertain the crowd inside a half-full T-Mobile Arena and television viewers. The loudest cheers came when the final bell sounded to end their dull, 10-round featherweight fight on the Canelo Alvarez-Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. pay-per-view undercard.

Diaz, a 2012 Olympian from South El Monte, California, won comfortably on all three scorecards to improve to 24-0. Judges Burt Clements (100-90), Max De Luca (99-91) and Ricardo Ocasio (99-91) all scored the 10-round fight for the undefeated featherweight contender.

Avila, of Fairfield, California, fell to 22-1.

Facing an unbeaten opponent represented risk beyond the norm for Diaz because he is the WBO’s No. 1-ranked featherweight contender. He also is ranked No. 2 at 126 pounds by the WBC.

Avila is ranked No. 10 by the WBC.

A left hand by Diaz knocked Avila off balance early in the ninth round, but he quickly regained his footing. Diaz unloaded a combination to Avila’s head and body around the midway mark of the ninth round in what amounted to his most memorable sequence in the fight.

Diaz’s combination punching started affecting Avila in the sixth and seventh rounds and created some swelling around his left eye. Diaz drilled Avila with a straight left hand just after the midway mark of the seventh round, which left Avila holding briefly.

There wasn’t much action in the first three rounds, but Avila landed a straight right hand at around the two-minute mark of the fourth round. Diaz landed a hard left hand soon thererafter, but Avila also connected with a left hook that made Diaz retreat.

Diaz and Avila fought mostly cautiously for the first three rounds, without either fighter gaining a significant advantage. Avila went to the canvas late in the second round, but referee Tony Weeks ruled it was from a slip.

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