COSTA MESA, California – Junior welterweight Maxim Dadashev overcame a knockdown to knock out gatekeeper Ricky Sismundo in round four on the Pulev-Dinu undercard.

Dadashev, who is ranked number seven by the WBC and by the IBF, improves to 13-0 (11 knockouts).

The 28-year-old Dadashev, who is now being trained by Buddy McGirt, was coming off a decision win over former world lightweight titleholder Antonio DeMarco on Oct. 20.

Dadashev landed the more telling punches throughout the first two rounds, but was dropped by a counter left cross by Sismundo near the end of round two. Dadashev was not visibly hurt as he walked back to his corner at the end of the round.

Sensing Dadashev was on shaky legs in round three, Sismundo, who is originally from the Philippines and now resides in Yokohama, Japan, attempted to walk Dadashev down. Sismundo was doing well in round four, but ran into a counter left-right combination from Dadachev, dropping him flat onto his back and wowing the crowd inside The Hangar.

Sismundo beat the count, but was still on wobbly legs, prompting referee Thomas Taylor to stop the fight at 2:30.

The 1-2 combo from Maxim Dadashev absolutely FLOORS Ricky Sismundo for KO number 11!! ?#PulevDinu | @ESPN+ pic.twitter.com/BZbI0lsLGH

— Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) March 24, 2019

Dadashev is managed by Egis Klimas and trains in the boxing hotbed of Oxnard. Dadashev is the stablemate of Vasiliy Lomachenko, Oleksandr Gvozdyk, and Egidijus Kavaliauskas.

Sismundo falls to 35-13-3 (17 KOs).

Fringe welterweight contender Chris van Heerden of South Africa won by technical decision over gatekeeper Mahrony Montes.

Van Heerden was fighting for the first time under the Top Rank banner. With trainer Brian Viloria in his corner, the southpaw van Heerden was the more effective fighter throughout the fight, making Montes miss and countering with lefts and rights to the head.

Montes’ face would become more and more bruised with each passing round, but the fighter from Mexico continued to press forward despite getting hit often.

An accidental clash of heads produced a cut over the right eye of van Heerden, forcing the ref to stop the fight at 1:44 after consulting with the ringside physician.

All three judges scored the bout 60-54 in favor of van Heerden, who improves to 27-2-1 (12 KOs).

Junior welterweight Javier Molina won a hard-fought eight-round unanimous decision over Abdiel Ramirez of Mexico.

The shorter Ramirez (24-4-1, 22 KOs) was the aggressor from the opening bell, looking to get on the inside of Molina’s longer reach. Ramirez did find success, connecting on an occasional hook or cross to the head or body, but Molina landed the more-telling blows.

Molina, who represented the United States at the 2008 Olympic Games, was sharper during the final two rounds, throwing and connecting with two and three-punch combinations.

Scores were 78-74, 78-74, and 79-73 for Molina, who improves to 19-2 (9 KOs).

Cruiserweight Tervel Pulev (13-0, 11 KOs) outboxed Mitch Williams over six rounds to win by unanimous decision.

Pulev, the younger brother of heavyweight contender Kubrat Pulev, who was fighting later in Saturday’s main event, was the more effective puncher.

The fight was highlighted for fouls between the two fighters, which produced multiple warnings from referee Jerry Cantu. A point was deducted from Pulev in round four for hitting Williams on the break.

Scores were 59-54, 57-56, and 58-55 for Pulev. Williams drops to 16-7-3 (11 KOs).

In the opening bout of the Top Rank card, junior lightweight Erick De Leon (19-0-1, 11 KOs) overcame a knockdown to stop Jose Luis Gallegos in round seven.

De Leon was the busier and more effective fighter during the first four rounds. A counter right hand from Gallegos (16-6, 12 KOs) to the head dropped De Leon to the canvas with about a minute left in round five.

The knockdown seemed to motivate De Leon, where he increased his aggression and punch output during the sixth round. De Leon closed the distance in round seven, battering Gallegos until referee Jerry Cantu saw enough and stopped the bout at 1:55.

In a swing bout, middleweight David Kaminsky won a one-sided decision over Estevan Payan (1-7-1, 1 KO). All three judges scored the bout 40-36 in favor of Kaminsky, who improves to 4-0, 3 KOs.

Francisco A. Salazar has written for RingTV.com 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 FightNights.com. He can be reached by email at [email protected] or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing