Light heavyweight/super middleweight prospect Bektemir Melikuziev dropped Sladan Janjanin three times en route to a third-round knockout victory on the undercard of Vergil Ortiz Jr.-Michael McKinson at the Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas.

Melikuziev, who is originally from Uzbekistan and now lives and trains in Indio, California, improves to 10-1, 8 knockouts.

Within moments of the opening bell, Melikuziev dropped Janjanin with a vicious left hand to the body. Janjanin beat the count and was game the rest of the fight, even standing in the pocket and trading with Melikuziev.

A Bek body shot coming right at you 😰 #OrtizMcKinson pic.twitter.com/kcDooV6xkQ

— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) August 7, 2022

Towards the end of the second round, Melikuziev backed Janjanin in a corner, unleashing a combination to the head that dropped Janjanin to one knee. Janjanin again beat the count and was able to make it out of the round.

Midway through the third round, Melikuziev dropped Janjanin a third time in the fight, again with a shot to the body. Janjanin beat the count and was fighting back, but referee Neal Young stopped the bout at 2:18.

Melikuziev has now won his last three bouts since losing by knockout to Gabriel Rosado on June 19 of last year. He is trained by Joel Diaz.

Janjanin, who is originally from Prijedor, Bosnia and Herzegovina and now resides in Boston, Massachusetts, drops to 32-12, 24 KOs.

Preliminary action

Lightweight prospect Floyd Schofield dropped former world titleholder Rodrigo Guerrero of Mexico City twice en route to a knockout win at 10 seconds of the sixth round.

Schofield, who resides in Austin, Texas, improves to 11-0, 9 KOs.

The 19-year-old got going after a slow start, scoring a knockdown with a barrage of punches near the end of the third round. Schofield scored another knockdown in the fourth round, landing a straight right hand to the head.

After the end of the fifth round, Guerrero’s corner told referee Ruben Perez to stop the fight. Official time of the stoppage of 10 seconds of the sixth round.

Guerrero, who has lost his last nine bouts, drops to 26-15-2, 16 KOs.

Fringe welterweight contender Alex Martin of Chicago overcame a knockdown to defeat former contender Henry ‘Hank’ Lundy by unanimous decision.

Scores were 97-92, 97-92, and 98-91 for Martin, who improves to 18-4, 6 KOs.

The southpaw Lundy scored a knockdown in the opening round, although replays showed Martin slipped on the canvas. Martin, who was fighting with a heavy heart after the passing of his brother earlier this week, was never deterred, outboxing Lundy throughout most of the fight.

Lundy, who resides in Philadelphia, drops to 31-11-1, 14 KOs.

Lightweight Carlos Nava improved to 9-0, 6 KOs by stopping Rodolfo Hernandez (30-11-1, 28 KOs) of Mexico City at 36 seconds of the fourth round. Nava, who resides in Pasadena, Texas, dropped Hernandez in the third round and has now won his last three bouts by knockout.

Junior bantamweight Figo Ramirez Gonzalez of nearby Dallas defeated Francisco Bonilla (6-14-3, 3 KOs) by unanimous decision. All three judges scored the bout 39-36 in favor of Ramirez Gonzalez, who goes to 2-0, 1 KO. Bonilla, who resides in Chihuahua, was deducted a point in the second round for landing a low blow.

In the opening bout of the Golden Boy Promotions card, welterweight Rohan Polanco stopped journeyman Dedrick Bell (31-33-1, 17 KOs) of Memphis, Tennessee at 2:13 of the second round. Polanco resides in Santo Domingo of the Dominican Republic.

Francisco A. Salazar has written for The Ring since October 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. He can be reached by email at [email protected] or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing