LAS VEGAS — Former featherweight titleholder Yuriorkis Gamboa rose from a ninth-round knockdown after scoring one each in the second and seventh of Saturday night’s unanimous decision for the WBA’s interim junior lightweight belt over game southpaw Filipino Michael Farenas before a sold out crowd of more than 16,000 screaming fans at the MGM Grand on the Manny Pacquiao-Juan Manuel Marquez card.

The victory had Gamboa (22-0, 16 knockoutts) in the ring for the first time since September of last year, when he he decisioned current WBC featherweight beltholder Daniel Ponce de Leon.

Farenas slipped to 34-4-4, 26 KOs against Gamboa, whose rapper-turned-promoter, 50 Cent descended into the ring from the scoreboard while attached to cables and rapping an original Hip Hop tune.

Gamboa floored Farenas with a left hook in the second and a right hand in the seventh and looked to be closing the show behind a barrage of blows that staggered his rival before, himself, being dropped with a perfect left cross from Farenas.

Gamboa won by scores of 117-109, 117-108, and, 118-108, on the cards of Robert Hoyle, Glenn Trowbridge and Dick Houck, respectively.

Also on the card, IBF lighweight beltholder Miguel Vazquez (33-3, 13 KOs) of Guadalajara, Mexico, earned his 12th straight win by unanimous decision over Mercito Gesta (26-1-1, 14 KOs) of San Diego by way of Mandaue City, Philippines.

In other fights, southpaw featherweight Javier Fortuna (21-0, 15 KOs) of Miami, scored a unanimous decision over Ireland’s Patrick Hyland (27-1, 12 KOs) Newburg, New York, in a physical fight for the WBA’s interim belt.

In an earlier fight, Mexican-American amateur sensation Jose Ramirez dropped his lightweight rival with a left to the body, and, latter battered him until referee Vic Drakulich stepped in to end his first-round knockout of Denver’s Corey Siegwarth (2-2, 1 KO) in Ramirez’s professional debut.

In the night’s first bout, junior lightweight Ernie Sanchez (14-3, 5 KOs) scored a third-round knock down on the way to an eight-round unanimous decision over Coy Evans (10-2-1, 2 KOs), and was followed by a second-round knockout by featherweight Dodie Boy Penalosa (10-0, 10 KOs) over Jesus Lule-Raya (6-5, 1 KO).

The third bout featured Alexis Hernandez (3-1, 1 KO) scoring his first stoppage in the first round over featherweight rival Jazzma Hogue (2-4-1, 0 KOs), whom he floored twice before referee Jay Nady stopped the fight at the 2:20 mark.

Photos / Al Bello-Gettyimages

Lem Satterfield can be reached at [email protected]