CARSON, Calif. – Egidigus Kavaliauskas believes he can still make noise in a deep and talented welterweight division. 

Kavaliauskas dropped Mykal Fox twice en route to a one-sided unanimous decision Saturday night at Dignity Health Sports Park.

Scores were 98-90, 99-89, and 100-88 for Kavaliauskas, who improves to 23-2-1, 18 knockouts. 

The taller Fox was able to work from distance, but Kavaliauskas, who is originally from Kaunas, Lithuania and now resides in Camarillo, California, closed the distance between the two and unleashed vicious hooks and crosses to the head of Fox.

During the third round, Kavaliauskas hurt Fox with a combination. Moments later, Kavaliauskas dropped Fox to the canvas with a barrage of punches. Fox beat the count, but was dropped from a right hand to the head. Fox again beat the count, and to his credit, was able to fight back and make it out of the round, even connecting with a few right hands of his own to the head of Kavaliauskas.

With friend and stablemate Vasiliy Lomachenko sitting ringside, Kavaliauskas continued to dictate and control the action. Fox looked to find openings, but was put on the defensive as Kavaliauskas would unleash a combination to the head and body. 

To his credit, Fox continued to fight on. Kavaliauskas almost scored a knockdown in the final round, but Fox was able to make it to the final bell.

Saturday night marked Kavaliauskas’ first fight since losing by knockout to unbeaten welterweight contender Vergil Ortiz, Jr. on August 14 of last year. The 34-year-old challenged WBO world welterweight titleholder Terence Crawford in December 2019, losing by knockout in the ninth round. 

Fox, who resides in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, drops to 22-4, 5 KOs. He has now lost his last three bouts.

Prior to the Kavaliauskas fight, the 26-year-old had not fought since August 7 of last year, losing a controversial unanimous decision to Gabriel Maestre of Venezuela, in a fight most ringside observers thought Fox won convincingly. The public outcry forced the WBA to begin consolidating all its world titleholders in each division. 

Featherweight Edward Vazquez defeated Viktor Slavinskyi by split-decision Saturday night at Dignity Health Sports Park.

One judge scored the bout 78-74 for Slavinskyi, while the other two judges scored the bout 79-73 and 77-75 for Vazquez, who improves to 13-1, 3 knockouts. 

The fight between once-beaten prospects was even early on, but Vazquez, who resides in Fort Worth, Texas, displayed a more-consistent and effective skill-set during the fight.

The action was fought in close quarters throughout much of the fight. The southpaw Slavinskyi worked behind a consistent jab, following it up with straight left hands or left crosses to the body.

During the middle rounds, Vazquez was able to outbox Slavinskyi, utilizing lateral movement and countering to the head and body of Vazquez. The pace of the fight slowed considerably by the seventh round, which favored Vazquez. Slavinskyi pressed forward, but Vazquez continued to outbox from outside. 

Vazquez is coming off a unanimous decision victory over Jose Argel in his last bout on July 9. The fight took place over five months after Vazquez lost a close split-decision to Raymond Ford. 

Slavinskyi, who is originally from Ukraine and now resides in Los Angeles, drops to 13-2-1, 6 KOs. He has lost his last two fights. 

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

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