BURBANK, California – Was it too close for comfort or did Miguel Beltran Jr. simply come to fight?

A little of both, according to Casey Ramos, who was coming off a defeat in his last bout. Overcoming a late start, Ramos began to let his hands go more in the second half of the fight, grinding out a hard-fought 10-round unanimous decision Friday night at the Marriott Convention Center.

Scores were 96-94, 96-94, and 97-93 for Ramos.

Ramos improves to 24-1, with six knockouts, while Beltran drops to 31-6, with 21 KOs.

Ramos was coming off a ninth-round technical decision loss to Andy Vences in his last bout on Nov. 4, the first loss of his pro career. Beltran was 4-3 in his previous seven bouts since fighting for a world title belt against Roman ‘Rocky’ Martinez in September of 2012.

Beltran was the more-effective fighter during the first half of the fight. Ramos was inactive early on, but began to let his hands go more in round five, despite suffering a cut over his right eye from a punch in round five.

Sensing he was down, Ramos increased his punch output in round eight. The Austin, Texas fighter was able to score with repeated left hooks to the head of Beltran, occasionally following up with a right hand.

Beltran hung in the pocket, but was the victim of a cut over his left eye due to a punch in round nine. Both fighters let their hands go in the pivotal 10th round, scoring during back-and-forth exchanges until the final bell sounded, drawing a standing ovation from the crowd.

“It feels good to return to the winner’s circle,” said Ramos after the fight. “I learned a lot from my last fight. I had to keep fighting and I had to dig deep (in this fight).”

“I didn’t perform like I wanted to. I’m going to look at mistake from this fight. My respect to my opponent, though. It showed what two world class opponents can do in the ring.”

Photo / Mikey Williams-Top Rank

In the co-feature, junior lightweight Erick De Leon scored the biggest win of his career thus far, stopping former world title challenger Daulis Prescott in the third round.

De Leon improves to 16-0, with 10 KOs, while Prescott drops to 30-4, with 23 KOs.

From the opening bell, the southpaw De Leon put Prescott on the defensive, forcing him to fight off his back foot. The pressure paid off as De Leon dropped Prescott late in the second round, courtesy of a barrage of punches.

After Prescott got through the round, De Leon went on the attack again. After an exchange, Prescott suddenly fell to the canvas in a corner. After getting up, Prescott complained of pain in his left arm. After a ringside physician was summoned into the ring to check on Prescott, referee Jack Reiss stopped the bout at 59 seconds.

The 25-year-old Mexican-American, who is trained by Robert Garcia, has displayed a penchant for power in recent fights. De Leon has now knocked out his last five opponents and six of his last seven.

In other bouts:
In welterweight action, Arnold Barboza stopped Markus Morris in round five of a scheduled eight round bout. After a slow start, Barboza (16-0, with 6 KOs) began letting his hands go more in round three. Barboza forced Morris (10-3, with 6 KOs) to one knee twice in round four, each time with right uppercuts to the head. Morris survived the round, but was dropped again early in round three. Referee Jack Reiss began to administer a count, but waved the fight over at 46 seconds.

Returning to the ring from a two and a half year absence, welterweight Artemio Reyes Jr. won a six round unanimous decision over Hector Munoz (25-19-1, with 17 KOs). Scores were 59-55, 59-55, and 60-54 in favor of Reyes, who improves to 24-2, with 19 KOs. Reyes spent time away from the ring due to surgery to his nose.

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