While most boxing fans had their eyes fixated on Madison Square Garden Saturday night, the most hardcore of fans had an inkling that a relatively obscure flyweight battle in Hermosillo, Mexico, between former titleholders Giovani Segura and Hernan Marquez, had the potential to be the most action-packed of the night.

How right they were.

After twelve rounds of savage exchanges, Segura emerged victorious with a twelfth-round knockout victory, dropping Marquez with an overhand left cross for the ten count at the 1:57 mark.

Marquez remained on the canvas for several minutes and had oxygen administered to him in the corner before being removed from the ring on a stretcher. Reports on his condition from Mexico were not immediately available.

Segura (31-3-1, 27 knockouts) scored knockdowns in the fourth and eleventh rounds, but Marquez (36-4, 26 KOs) proved resilient on both occasions, controlling the action for long stretches with his counterpunching ability.

In the end, the fight came down to who was able to take his opponent’s punches better.

Segura, who once occupied a spot on THE RING’s pound-for-pound list after two knockout wins over Ivan Calderon in 2010-11 to win the magazine’s junior flyweight title, is now the WBO mandatory for Juan Francisco Estrada, who holds both the WBA and the WBO titles at 112 pounds.

Both Segura and Marquez had been on a roll in their careers before suffering stoppage losses to Brian Viloria in recent years. Viloria then ceded his titles to Estrada last year via unanimous decision.

Segura has now won two straight since losing a unanimous decision to Edgar Sosa earlier this year.