Fantasy Springs Resort Casino in Indio, Calif. - In a WBA lightweight world title eliminator, Petr 'Zar' Petrov (38-4-2, 18 KOs) dropped and battered Michael 'The Artist' Perez (24-2-2, 11 KOs), for a TKO in six rounds.

Petrov now becomes the mandatory challenger to WBA world champion Jorge Linares, who captured the title last Saturday with a win over Anthony Crolla in Manchester.

Crolla has an immediate rematch clause, which he exercised, so Linares will defend against him next on a date in February or March.

Perez came out working the jab, circling and keeping at a safe distance. Petrov was picking his punches and started landing some sneaky right hand punches. Petrov came out in the second round with hard right hands and sent Perez crashing down from an overhand right to the temple. Perez was also a blood mess from a clash of heads that opened up a cut above his right eye. The clash of heads also opened up a cut on Petrov's forehead. Perez made it through the round, but he took a lot of damage in the final twenty seconds, with hook to the body that hurt him badly.

Petrov came out with a lot of pressure to start off the third. A huge left had Perez back in trouble and right eye was flowing blood badly. Petrov continued to tag Perez all over the ring with hard punches to the head and body. Petrov continued to grind with hard shots in the fourth round and the punches were coming in very quickly. Perez was trying to punch back and Petrov was walking through the shots. Perez stood his ground near the end of the round to trade body punches with Petrov.

Prior to the start of the fifth, Perez's trainer Robert Garcia threatened to stop the fight because his fighter was taking a lot of damage. Petrov was coming forward, throwing the big shots and wouldn't take his foot off the gas as Perez was looking to turn the tide. Perez's face was becoming a mess from the big shots he was taking. Petrov was outworking Perez in the sixth. Perez was trying hard but he was being outgunned and battered by big shots. Garcia stopped the fight when Perez went back the corner.

In the co-main event San Diego-based Genaro "El Conde" Gamez (3-0, 3 KOs) was looking to add to his impressive early run of victories against Durham, North Carolina's Vernon Alston (9-7-1, 7 KOs) in a six-round super featherweight event. Gamez set a familiar tone for the night, dominating his opponent from the opening moments. Gamez knocked Alston down in the early part of the first round with a sizzling combination before knocking Alston out - and out of the ring - towards the end of the round.

"During the fight, I was looking for some openings and once I found one, the knockout just happened," Gamez said. "It feels great to put on an exciting fights. I want what every boxer wants next-a world title shot."

Opening up the televised portion of the night on Estrella TV, Santa Ana, CA sensation Alexis Rocha (5-0, 4 KOs) quickly got to work in his six-round welterweight bout, firing numerous shots at Colbert "The Pitbull" Lozoya (7-14) to start the fight. Half way through the first round, Rocha unloaded a combination to the head and body that dropped and knocked out Lozoya.

"My plan is to always go in there and hurt my opponent," Rocha said. "I want to make sure they don't get confidence so they know I am the better fighter in the ring."

In the second of two fights featuring local fan favorites making their pro debuts, super bantamweight prospect and Indio native Luis Coria (1-0, 1 KO) took on Noe Munoz (2-4) in a scheduled four-round fight. The fighters took their measure of one another through the first round, but in the second, Coria began to assert himself and ended the bout with a thunderous left hook that left Munoz dazed for minutes after he was counted out.

Javier Padilla (1-0, 1 KO), another local Indio fighter projected to do some damage in the sport, dominated from the opening bell, landing savage body and head shots at will against Richard Morales (0-3). Padilla, a super bantamweight, knocked Morales down twice in the second round before the referee stepped in and stopped the action before the end of the round, giving Padilla a big victory in his first professional bout.

A fan favorite at the Belasco Theater's LA FIGHT CLUB, East LA native Jonathan "Thunder" Navarro (7-0, 5 KOs) travelled 120 miles east to square off against Farkhad "Crazy Russian" Sharipov (4-9, 1 KO) in a super lightweight clash. In a back-and-forth matchup the featured rapid combinations and solid defense, Navarro emerged with a unanimous decision to keep his undefeated record intact.

In the opening fight of the night, rising super middleweight Bastie Samir (15-0-1, 14 KOs) took on Sijoula "Siju/Juice" Ade Shabazz (6-2, 5 KOs) in a six-round affair. Samir came out aggressively from the opening bell, knocking Shabazz down with a vicious combination near the end of round one. Shabazz easily beat the count as the bell rang signifying the end of the opening stanza. For the remainder of the fight, Shabazz took on the role of the boxer. Though Samir and Shabazz both managed to land some heavy leather throughout, the fight went the distance, with Samir winning a unanimous decision and keeping his undefeated record.