Jessie Vargas defeated Antonio DeMarco by a unanimous decision in a spirited 12-round junior welterweight fight to open the TV portion of the Manny Pacquiao-Chris Algieri card Saturday in Macau, China.

Vargas (26-0, 9 knockouts) outworked DeMarco for most of the fight, particularly in the first half, consistently landed hard body shots and quick accurate combinations against a fighter not known for his defensive skills.

Vargas seemed to be running away with the fight about mid-way through but DeMarco, who is very tough if little else, scored consistently early in the second half of what became a brutal, give-and-take brawl.

However, Vargas regained control in the final few rounds to claim a one-sided victory. All three judges had the same score: 116-112. THE RING scored it 117-111.

Vargas landed 263 of 654 total punches compared to 179 of 491 for DeMarco, according to CompuBox. Vargas also had an edge in power punches, 220 of 495 compared to 148 of 356.

Vargas holds what the WBA calls its “regular” title but he isn’t a champion. Danny Garcia is the actual WBA titleholder.