Staples Center, Los Angeles - Arnold Barboza Jr., the local product from South El Monte, had the Staples Center crowd on his side. He sent the partisan fans home happy, knocking out former world champion Mike Alvarado (40-5, 28 KOs) in the third round. (photos by Mikey Williams).

Barboza (21-0, 8 KOs) knocked Alvarado down with a right hand. Alvarado stumbled to his feet, but he rose on wobbly legs, forcing the referee to stop the fight.

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 USBA welterweight champion and WBA No 1 contender Alexander Besputin (13-0, 9 KOs) moved closer to a world title shot with a dominant 10-round decision over Alfredo Blanco (20-8, 11 KOs).

He said the contender stage of his career is over.

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Janibek Alimkhanuly (6-0, 2 KOs), a former amateur standout for his native Kazakhstan, passed the toughest test of his career with a 10-round unanimous decision (100-90 2X and 99-91) over Cristian Olivas (16-5, 13 KOs).  Alimkhanuly picked up the WBC Continental Americas and WBO Global middleweight belt, as he outworked Olivas to cruise to victory.

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It was a short night at the office for Italian heavyweight Guido Vianello (3-0, 3 KOs), who knocked out Lawrence Gabriel (3-2-1, 2 KOs) at 49 seconds of the opening round. Vianello represented his homeland at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Ruben Rodriguez (6-0, 2 KOs) maintained his unbeaten record with a four-round majority decision (38-38, 39-37 and 40-36) over the battle-tested veteran Ramel Snegur (3-4-1, 2 KOs).

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