Lightweight prospect Carlos Diaz held off a late rally from late-sub Samuel Gonzalez to win a hard-fought 10-round unanimous decision on Saturday at Deportivo Morales in Cuajimalpa, D.F., Mexico.

Diaz improves to 21-0 with 10 knockouts. Gonzalez falls to 11-4, 8 KOs.

Diaz, who made his pro debut at 16, was coming off a 10-round unanimous decision over Roberto Marroquin on May 14. He was originally scheduled to face Daniel Ruiz, but the fight fell through earlier in the week.

Gonzalez, who is originally from Venezuela and now resides in Mexico City, took the fight on a few day’s notice.

Diaz won the first three rounds of the fight, but Gonzalez increased his punch output and aggression in the fourth round. The best round of the fight was in the fifth, as both fighters stood toe-to-toe, throwing and landing lead hooks and cross. Gonzalez recovered from being stunned midway through the round to shake Diaz with a right uppercut to the head near the end of the round.

Both fighters had their moments in the second half of the fight. Gonzalez was the aggressor, working from the center of the ring, while Diaz looked to counter.

All three judges scored the bout 97-93 in favor of Diaz.

In the co-feature bout, lightweight Gabriel Pina upset former world title challenger Miguel Beltran, Jr., winning an eight round unanimous decision.

Pina improves to 13-12-5, 5 KOs, while Beltran drops to 31-5, 21 KOs.

Pina, who was 3-3 prior to Saturday night, was the busier fighter as the bout progressed, landing the more-telling blows up unto the final bell.

All three judges scored the bout in favor of Pina, 77-75, 77-75, and 77-76.

Both bouts aired on beIN Sports en Espanol in the United States and Azteca TV in Mexico.

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 (Calif.) Star newspaper, Boxingscene.com, and Knockout Nation. He can be reached by email at [email protected] or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing