NEW YORK: Puerto Rico's Edgar Santana extended his winning streak to 13 bouts by stopping Meacher Major of the Bahamas at 2:53 of the third round of a scheduled 10-round fight Wednesday.

Santana, who is now fighting out of New York, continued his quest for a junior welterweight title fight.

He sent Major to the canvas with a solid right to the head early in the third. Then he pinned Major against the ropes and went on the attack with a flurry of lefts and rights. When Major did not fight back, referee Pete Santiago stopped the fight.

Santana (20-2 with 13 knockouts) said he'll be ready for a title fight next year and may even move down to 135 pounds after weighing in at 139 1/2 for the bout against Major, who dropped to 11-3-1.

"This was my best fight in a long time," Santana said, "and I was ready for it."

Prior to the fight, promoter Lou DiBella announced he has signed undefeated middleweight James (Buddy) McGirt, Jr., of Brentwood, New York to a contract.

The son of the former world champion, who is now training him, McGirt is 12-0 with seven knockouts.

On the undercard Wednesday night, Norika Kariya of Toronto registered an unanimous six-round decision over Elisha Olivas. Kariya is the sister of NHL star Paul Kariya.

Norika Kariya improved to 6-1-1 with one knockout while Olivas fell to 5-5-1.

Super middleweight Curtis Stevens (14-1, 11 Knockouts) got revenge for his only loss by winning a one-sided eight round unanimous decision over Marcos Primera (20-15-2, 13 Knockouts). Thes scores were 79-73, 79-72 and 80-72.

Light heavyweight Jaidon Codrington (13-1, 12 Knockouts) stopped Johnny Brooks (5-5-1, 3 Knockouts) in the second round.