INDIO, California – Another Russian fighter became a major player on Saturday night. This time it was welterweight prospect Dmitry Mikhaylenko, who scored an impressive eighth-round stoppage against veteran Johan Perez at the Fantasy Springs Resort Casino.

Mikhaylenko, who won the NABA welterweight title, improved to 20-0, 9 knockouts. Perez fell to 20-3-1, 13 KOs.

The victory propels Mikhaylenko into contender status, but it did not come easy as Perez came to fight and seemed to have the advantage early on. There were some very good exchanges between the two, but Mikhaylenko began to swing momentum his way by the third round.

Mikhaylenko, who fights under the Main Events banner, used his awkwardness to land repeatedly with lead and counter right hands to Perez’s head.

Perez switched to a southpaw stance in round five, creating space between himself and Mikhaylenko. That rally was short-lived as Mikhaylenko increased his punch output the following round, landing with more regularity to the head and body of Perez.

“Once I realized my punches were hurting him, I decided to continue to put pressure on him,” said Mikhaylenko after the fight. “He is not a heavy punch and I took the opportunity to overwhelm him.”

Overwhelm he did as Mikhaylenko looked to close the show in the eighth round. Perez looked exhausted and was repeatedly getting hit with combinations to the head.

Perez slumped back against the ropes after Mikhaylenko landed a combination to the head. Mikhaylenko followed up with another barrage, prompting referee Ray Corona to step in and stop the bout at 1:21.

Avila stops Salinas

Unbeaten junior featherweight Manuel ‘Tino’ Avila stopped former world title challenger Yoandris Salinas after the sixth round.

With the win, Avila improved to 18-0, 8 KOs, while Salinas dropped to 22-2-2, 14 KOs.

It was a big step up in opposition for Avila, as Salinas is best known for fighting to a draw against Scott Quigg.

After a competitive first round, Avila swung momentum his way midway through the second round, dropping Salinas with a straight right to the head. Salinas was not visibly hurt and fought on. Avila demonstrated a chin over the next two rounds. Salinas landed a series of right hands that Avila took well. Salinas also looked to counter with left hooks to the head.

But Avila was successful at keeping Salinas at bay, throwing and landing double and triple jabs to the head of Salinas. The pace slowed down, but Avila seemed to land the more telling blows.

Salinas did not come out for the seventh round, reportedly due to an injured hand.

“I was expecting Salinas to be a tougher fighter,” said Avila after the fight. “I trained longer and harder. I felt like this fight was going to go the distance and I wanted to increase my speed and stamina.”

Farmer knocks out Prescott

Junior lightweight Tevin Farmer scored an impressive eighth-round knockout over Daulis Prescott.

Farmer, who has now won his last 13 bouts in a row, improved to 20-4-1, 5 KOs. Prescott dropped to 29-3, 22 KOs.

It was all Farmer from the opening bell. The southpaw Farmer was able to walk Prescott down, landing an array of combinations to the head and body of Prescott, who had a difficult time trying to counter Farmer.

Farmer dropped Prescott with a lead left hand to the head. Prescott got up, but was met with a barrage of punches and fortunate enough the bell sounded to end the round.

The fight took an odd turn in the sixth round. Farmer dropped Prescott with a right hook. While Prescott was on one knee, Farmer threw and landed a left hand to Prescott’s head. Prescott remained on the canvas, eventually standing up and utilizing the five minutes fighters have to recover from a foul. Referee Ray Corona deducted a point from Farmer.

The end came in round 8. Farmer loaded up and landed a left cross to the head of Prescott, dropping him to the canvas. Referee Ray Corona immediately waved the fight over at 52 seconds.

Undercard action (streamed live on RingTVLive.com):

– Featherweight prospect Joet Gonzalez, who is managed by Frank Espinoza, stopped Miguel Tamayo (16-15-2) at 2:17 of the third round.

– Jason Quigley (8-0, 8 KOs) knocked out Michael Faulk in the second round. The unbeaten middleweight dropped Faulk (3-3, 1 KO) three times in the second round, prompting Faulk’s corner to throw in the towel at 2:59.

– Heavyweight journeyman Tommy Washington (4-7, 2 KOs) won a four-round unanimous decision over Paulis Ritter, who was making his pro debut. Scores were 40-36, 40-36, and 39-37 for Washington.

– Junior middleweight Neeco Macias won a six-round unanimous decision over Julian Cruz (2-5). All three judges scored the bout in favor of Macias (9-0, 4 KOs), 60-54, 60-54, and 59-55.

– Welterweight Darius Ervin won a four-round majority decision over Diego Padilla (1-1). One judge scored the bout 38-38, while the other two judges scored the bout 40-36 in favor of Ervin (3-0).

– In the opening bout of the Golden Boy Promotions card, super middleweight Quilisito Madera (2-0, 1 KO) stopped Fernando Najera (1-8) at 31 seconds of the third round.

Francisco A. Salazar has written for RingTV since October of 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (CA) Star newspaper, Boxingscene.com, and Knockout Nation. He can be reached by email at [email protected] or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing