Jose Garcia showed his fellow visiting fighter the most effective way to avoid an upset.

The hard-hitting junior welterweight prospect from Tijuana made quick work of Nicaragua’s Israel Lopez, earning a second-round knockout on the road Thursday evening at Ciudad Deportiva Heiner Ugalde in San Jose, Costa Rica. Garcia scored two knockdowns leading to a stoppage at 2:06 of round two.

With two unbeaten North American fighters losing earlier in the evening and another barely surviving a split decision, Garcia brought the heat from the opening bell. Lopez (9-3, 7KOs) was not without his moments but simply lacked the firepower to keep the Tijuana native at bay.

A heated exchange midway through round two ended with Garcia slamming home a left hook to send Lopez crashing to the canvas. Lopez beat the count but was on unsteady legs. Garcia returned to the left hook to produce the second knockdown, which Lopez once again survived though not the ensuing volley in forcing the stoppage.

Garcia is now 16-1-1 (15KOs). The 23-year-old prospect—who is guided by Hall of Fame former three-division champ Marco Antonio Barrera—has now won four straight since his lone career defeat, with his last three all ending inside the distance.

Ofacio Falcon barely avoided a night of upsets, having to sweat out a split decision verdict to remain unbeaten. The 22-year-old Dominirican from The Bronx outpointed local journeyman Jose Perez (10-6, 8KOs) over six rounds. Judge Ronald Alvarez (58-56) favored the more active work rate of Perez, overruled by judges David Garcia (58-56_ and Emilia Alvarez (58-56) who scored in favor of Falcon (8-0, 5KOs) in their DAZN-aired junior lightweight clash.

Perez’ aggression and heritage clearly resonated with the crowd, as the feisty Costa Rican constantly pressed the action. It came at a cost, as he doubled up Falcon in punch output though only landing a 17-percent clip. Falcon—who landed 42 percent of his total punches, including 56 percent of his power shots—landed the cleaner blows and exhibited superior defense in picking up his second win in Costa Rica within his past three starts.

Jose Alvarado called upon his team to provide a test rather than play it safe at home. The demand came back to haunt him, as the unbeaten lightweight came up short in a road trip. Alvarado suffered an upset six-round, majority decision defeat to local clubfighter Keling Fonseca in the opening bout of the evening. Fonseca won by matching cards of 57-56, overruling a 56-56 card from the third judge.

Alvarado—also trained by Barrera—was deducted a point in round three for leading with his head, also getting the worst of the sequence as he was cut under his right eye. The night would get worse for the 24-year-old prospect from Ensenada, Mexico, who worked the body of Fonseca but was unable to fend off the pesky Costa Rican.

Fonseca advances to 4-5 (2KOs), snapping a two-fight losing streak. Alvarado falls to 9-1 (5KOs).

Kyle Erwin suffered a worse fate, being dealt his first defeat the hard way. A deep cut over his right eye was deemed too severe to continue, leaving Erwin to suffer a second-round, technical knockout defeat to Escazu, Costa Rica’s Lorenzo Garro (4-0, 2KOs).

The bout opened with Erwin—who hails from Oceanside, California—going on the attack, pummeling Garro along the ropes. Garro’s right leg twice gave out, falling through the bottom portion of the ropes which was ruled a knockdown by the referee. Erwin was unable to keep up that level of pressure after developing a cut over his right eye.

The wound was examined by the ringside physician, who informed the referee that the visiting fighter could no longer continue. Erwin falls to 5-1 (2KOs) with the loss.

The main event features local hero and IBF strawweight titlist Yokasta Valle (25-2, 9KOs) against WBO titlist Thi Thu Nhi Nguyen (5-0, 1KOs) of Vietnam in the first-ever unification bout to take place on Costa Rican soil.

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