TEMECULA, California – Austin Trout still has a ways to go before fighting the elite fighters in the junior middleweight division but the contender is still good enough to beat fighters like Luis Grajeda.

Trout, who faced Grajeda on Thursday at the Pechanga Resort and Casino, was in control from the opening bell, scoring a knockdown and eventually a technical knockout after seven rounds.

Trout-Grajeda headlined a 13-bout “Night of Champions” card presented by Goossen Promotions.

After suffering back to back losses in 2013 to Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and Erislandy Lara, Trout returned to the ring on August 22. In that bout, Trout defeated Daniel Dawson, but was dropped twice in the bout.

Trout, who is being trained by Barry Hunter, was never in danger against Grajeda, dominating the action by beating Grajeda to the punch and landing the more telling blows.

As the bout progressed, Trout, a southpaw, kept landing repeatedly with the left hand to the head of Grajeda. Looking frustrated at times, Grajeda was not able to land anything clean, hitting Trout’s gloves or his arms.

Trout scored a knockdown towards the end of the fifth round. A left uppercut to the head dropped Grajeda, who complained he tripped over Trout’s leg.

After the seventh round, Grajeda’s corner told referee Thomas Taylor to stop the fight.

Trout, from Las Cruces, New Mexico, goes to 28-2, 15 knockouts, while Grajeda drops to 18-4-2, 14 KOs.

Escandon wins split decision

In a bout that was hard to score and hard to watch for boxing fans, Oscar Escandon won a 12-round split decision over Tyson Cave.

Both boxers were fighting for the interim WBA junior featherweight title, as the WBA committee stripped Nehomar Cermeno earlier this week for not defending the title in a timely manner.

It was a compelling fight early on between the awkward, southpaw style Cave and the aggressive style of Escandon.

Both had their moments in the first half of the fight. Escandon pressed the fight, landing on the inside with rights to the head and body. Cave was more the boxer, side-stepping Escandon and countering to the head with hooks and uppercuts.

As the bout progressed, Escandon began to land with more frequency. He was able to land counter right crosses to the head of Cave.

Cave began to slow down by the eight round. He also did not liken himself to the crowd with some bizarre antics in the ring. Cave would smack his gloves together, or his backside, and made facial expression as he backed away from exchanges.

Escandon did a better job cutting off the ring by the ninth round, but it was more Cave moving around the ring less. This was probably due to the punches Escandon was landing and the amount of energy Cave expended earlier in the fight.

One judge scored the bout 115-113 for Cave, while the other two judges scored the bout 117-111 and 115-113 for Escandon.

Gausha stops Vila

Junior middleweight prospect and 2012 United States Olympian Terrell Gausha scored a spectacular eighth-round technical knockout over Cesar Vila.

It was a competitive back and forth affair between the 2012 United States Olympian and Vila (7-2, 3 KOs).

From the opening bell, Vila found success on the inside, where he was able to land to the body and connected with right hands to the head of Gausha. Undaunted, Gausha (13-0, 7 KOs) would eventually land counter right hands to the head of Vila.

Both landed solid combinations in the fourth round, but Gausha began to swing momentum in his favor in the fifth round. Gausha initiated first, beating Vila with lead hooks and crosses to the head of Vila. As the bout progressed, Vila began to tire, allowing Gausha to initiate combinations, beating Vila to the punch with lead hooks and crosses to the head.

With less than a minute left in the eighth round, Gausha dropped Vila with a four-punch combination to the head. Vila laid flat on his back for a moment and attempted to get up, but referee Jack Reiss immediately waved the fight over at 2:30, despite protests from Vila and his corner.

Tarver stops Banks

Antonio Tarver (31-6, 22 KOs) stopped Johnathon Banks in the seventh round of a 10-round heavyweight bout.

Tarver and Banks were supposed to square off on Sept. 29, but the bout was postponed when Tarver suffered an injury a few weeks before the fight date.

Both fighters pawed at each other from the opening bell, taking very little chances. As the crowd booed, Tarver began to initiate exchanges, while Banks (29-3-1, 19 KOs) stepped away or grabbed onto Tarver.

Sugar Hill, the nephew of the late Emanuel Steward, implored Banks to throw more punches in between rounds, but Banks would only throw a counter left hook or an occasional jab.

As the bout progressed, Tarver would open up and initiate the exchanges. It paid off in the seventh round, as he dropped Banks with a combination to the head. Banks got up on wobbly legs and after the action resumed, Tarver seized the opportunity by jumping on Banks. Tarver landed at will until referee Jack Reiss stepped in and stopped the bout at 2:25.

In other bouts:

– Middleweight Sergio Mora won a hard-fought eight round unanimous decision over Dashon Johnson. Both fighters went down in the second round. Mora dropped Johnson with a left hook to the head and Johnson dropped Mora with a one-two combination. All three judges scored the bout in favor of Mora, 80-72, 80-72, and 79-73.

– Featherweight Rico Ramos (24-4, 12 KOs) won a one-sided decision over Juan Ruiz (24-16, 7 KOs). All three judges scored the bout 80-72 in favor of the former 122-pound title holder.

– Heavyweight prospect Gerald Washington (15-0, 11 KOs) dropped Mike Sheppard twice in the first round, both courtesy of right hands, prompting referee Thomas Taylor to wave the fight over at 1:26 after the second knockdown.

– Light heavyweight prospect and 2012 United States Olympian Marcus Browne (13-0, 10 KOs) dropped George Blades (23-7, 16 KOs) twice in the first round, eventually stopping him at 1:25.

– In his professional debut, super middleweight Malcolm McAllister stopped Fernando Najera (1-6) in the second round. McAllister dropped Najera in the second round, eventually prompting Najera’s corner to throw in the towel at 1:42.

– In the opening bout of the card, Vatche Martirosyan (4-0, 2 KOs) won a four-round unanimous decision over Eddie Diaz (0-3). All three judges scored the bout in favor of Martirosyan, 40-36, 40-36, and 39-37.

Francisco A. Salazar has written for RingTV since October of 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Salazar 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 FSalazarBoxingÔÇï