By Brian Gorman

Before a full crowd in his second main event at Pittsburgh's terrific Rivers Casino outdoor venue, junior lightweight contender Monty Meza-Clay (31-3, 21 KO), 135, peppered the Dominican Republic's Carlos "El Raya" Rivera (16-10-2, 5 KO), 134.5, with combinations and knocked him down four times before Referee Rick Steigerward had seen enough and halted the bout at 0:46 of the sixth round.

Meza-Clay came out from the opening round determined to work Rivera's body, and in spite of an effective body attack, Rivera stayed on his feet until taking a knee from a punch strayed low in the first round.  The local product quickly abandoned his jab against the game southpaw and began to switch stances, loading up on a variety of power punches.

He enjoyed a huge third round highlighted by three knockdowns: a left hook-straight right combination, followed by a right to the side and another right dug into the solar plexus.

The last knockdown occurred in the fifth round courtesy of a beautiful right cross-right upppercut combination.  Rivera survived to the bell but was quickly in trouble in the sixth, when a hook that stopped him in his tracks followed by a barrage that sent him into the ropes led to the stoppage.

In the co-feature, Johnstown cruiserweight Andres "Taylor Made" Taylor (19-1-2, 7 KO), 198, earned a decision of 60-54 on two cards and 59-55 on the third over Albuquerque's "Mad" Mike Alderete (7-6-2, 3 KO) , 197.  Though the two traded throughout, Taylor's heavier punches that backed up Alderete apparently made the difference.

The bout's last three rounds mostly involved a cat-and-mouse game, where Alderete laid against the ropes, looking to counter.  Though he landed some impressive counters, Taylor outworked and outlanded him to stretch his unbeaten streak to twelve.

On the undercard:

Pittsburgh light heavyweight Jaque "Lights Out" Lutz (2-0, 1 KO). 173.5, in no way looked like a pro in only his second bout, when he worked behind a stiff jab to set up combinations in a 40-36 (three times) decision win over Kentrell "Beast" Claiborne (2-3, 1 KO), 178.

Billy "the Boilermaker" Hutchinson (1-0, 1 KO), 152.5, proudly represented the Local 154 in a junior middlweight contest and gave that local contingent a lot to cheer about in a fourth round TKO over Allen "Pit Bull" Perkins (1-5), 153.  After a first round knockdown on a left hook, he turned it on in the final round, and Referee Earnie Sharif intervened at 2:14 of the fourth when Hutchinson landed another left hook that left Perkins defenseless.

Fairmont, West Virginia's Jamel Hicks (5-0, 4 KO), 146.5, landed several big shots, and dropped Pennsylvania's Joe Luketic (1-1, 1 KO), 148.5, hard to the canvas with a combination punctuated by an overhand right in the opening round.  Luketic could not regain his senses, and the contest was waved off at 2:14 of the first.

Travis "Rattlesnake" Hanshaw (2-0, 1 KO), 145, outboxed Buffalo's Andrew "Drama" Jones (0-8-1), 148, over four round for a unanimous decision win by scores of 39-37 (twice) and 40-36.