Thomas Mattice needed a round to warm up before making his presence felt in front of a hometown crowd.

The Cleveland-based junior lightweight scored a knockdown and braved a strong surge to finish strong and outpoint Christian Tapia in a terrific junior lightweight fight. Scores were 97-92, 96-93 and 96-93 in favor of ‘The Gunna Man’ as part of a DAZN telecast Saturday evening from Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland, Ohio.

Tapia was active in the opening round, taking advantage of Mattice’s seemingly deliberate slow start. Mattice was effective with the punches he threw and landed but was significantly outworked by the unbeaten Puerto Rican prospect in the first three minutes.

That drastically changed in round two. Mattice went toe-to-toe with Tapia, scoring the bout’s first knockdown courtesy of a left hook upstairs. The shot caused Tapia’s left leg to give out from under him before falling to the canvas. Mattice was unable to close the show, as Tapia showed remarkable recuperative skills in surviving the sequence and punching his way back into the fight.

Mattice went back on the attack in a fiercely paced third round. Tapia threw and landed to the body but dropped his left hand, allowing Mattice to crash home a right hand on the Puerto Rican’s jaw. Tapia wobbled but did not go down, finding himself pinned on the ropes but fighting back just enough to prompt onlooking referee David Fields to stand down and allow the action to continue.

Tapia turned the tide in round five. A by the 28-year-old from Coamo, Puerto Rico repeatedly hurt Mattice, first early in the round with an overhand right and then landing a right uppercut with roughly one minute to go. Mattice weathered the storm, which included a relentless body attack by Tapia who expertly heeded the instructions of his corner to stop headhunting and concentrate more on breaking down Mattice.

Momentum remained with Tapia heading into the second half of the bout. Mattice was a little slower to the draw in round six before crashing home a right hand midway through round seven. Tapia took the shot well, returning fire mere seconds later which caused Matice to stand down. Tapia connected with a right hand that snapped back the head of Mattice within the final fifteen seconds of the round.

Tapia forced Mattice back with a right hand upstairs in round nine. Mattice bit down and returned fire, hurting Tapia at center ring midway through the round. Both fighters had their say in the final thirty seconds, Tapia the busier fighter while Mattice managed the glossier punches.

Mattice took the lead in the tenth and final round, walking forward and landing with jabs and right hands. Tapia was forced to play defense at a point when the fight was seemingly in the balance. Mattice continued on the attack, throwing and landing in combination. Tapia (15-1, 12KOs) was forced to fight off the ropes, coming forward but not throwing or landing anything of consequence when it mattered most as he suffered his first defeat.

Mattice improves—in every sense of the word—to 20-3-1 (15KOs). The win was his third straight, all within the past six months.

Headlining the show, Cleveland’s Montana Love (18-0-1, 9KOs) faces Australia’s Steve Spark (15-2, 14KOs) in a scheduled twelve-round bout.

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