Leduan Barthelemy made his presence felt in search of his first win in more than a year.

The 31-year old featherweight southpaw had to move up two divisions to achieve the feat, doing so in a 3rd round knockout of Philippines’ Recky Dulay. Barthelemy scored three knockdowns, the last of which prompted the fight’s end at 2:31 into the third round of their FS1-chief support Sunday evening live from Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, California.

Barthelemy hasn’t fought since a shocking 4th round knockout loss to Eduardo Ramirez last November, which prior to that was as competitive as their first fight in which the two fought to a 10-round draw in September 2017. The younger brother of former two-division titlist Rances Barthelemy—who was due to fight on this card, only to have to withdraw when scheduled opponent Albert Puello was unable to secure a travel visa in time—is still trying to carve out his own identity in the ring.

A glimpse came in Sunday’s affair, where the still-aspiring featherweight boxed smartly before dialing up the pressure. Dulay was game, aiming to turn a boxing match into a fight. The strategy served well for the first couple of rounds before Barthelemy—a Cuban southpaw now based in Las Vegas along with his older brother—took over for good.

Working the stick through two rounds, Barthelemy bit down and let his hands go in round three. Dulay was unable to defend against the attack, particularly Barthelemy’s right hook to the body which served as the cause for all three knockdowns.

Dulay (11-9, 8KOs) was decked midway through round three, already appearing to have his fill for the day. Referee Rudy Barragan gave Dulay every chance to continue, once again issuing a mandatory eight count after another right hook downstairs sent the Filipino journeyman to the canvas. The third such sequence was enough to call the fight without issuing another count, dealing a sixth straight defeat for Dulay.

Barthlemey advances to 16-1-1 (8KOs), scoring his first win since an eight-round decision over former title challenger Jose Cayeteano last June in his adopted hometown of Las Vegas.   

The bout served as the chief support of a three-fight FS1 telecast preceding a PBC on Fox card headlined by Yordenis Ugas (25-4, 12KOs) versus Abel Ramos (26-3-2, 20KOs) in a secondary welterweight title fight.

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