ATLANTA – Carlos Adames made an impressive Premier Boxing Champions debut Saturday night.

After two completely unremarkable rounds, Adames knocked out Alexis Salazar in the third round of their scheduled 10-round middleweight match on the Gervonta Davis-Mario Barrios undercard at State Farm Arena. Adames’ short left hook sent Salazar to one knee with just over 10 seconds to go in the third round.

Salazar struggled to get to his feet, but he did beat referee Jim Korb’s count. Korb decided, though, that a stumbling Salazar wasn’t fit to continue.

The official time of the stoppage was 2:59 of the third round.

The Dominican Republic’s Adames upped his record to 20-1 and produced his 16th knockout. Mexico’s Salazar (23-4, 9 KOs) had his 15-fight winning streak snapped and lost by knockout for the first time in eight years as a pro.

The Adames-Salazar fight replaced Julian Williams-Brian Mendoza as part of Showtime’s Pay-Per-View broadcast after Williams withdrew from that 10-round junior middleweight match last weekend due to an elbow injury.

Adames fought for the second time since Brazil’s Patrick Teixeira (31-2, 22 KOs) beat him by unanimous decision in their 12-round fight for the then-vacant WBO junior middleweight title in November 2019.

Adames appeared to score a knockdown with just over a minute to go in the third round. Salazar seemingly used the ropes to hold himself up after Adames landed a straight left hand, but Korb allowed the action to continue.

Salazar tried to work off his jab early in the second round, yet he had little success. He flung Adames to the canvas with just over a minute remaining in the second round.

A little later in the second round, Adames pushed Salazar to the canvas. Those two trips to the canvas amounted to the most noteworthy action in that second round.

Adames and Salazar were very reluctant to engage during the first round. Neither fighter threw many punches in those three minutes.

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for krikya360.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.