LAS VEGAS – Carlos Castro avoided what could’ve been a disastrous debut Saturday night with Al Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions.

The undefeated Castro overcame early trouble against Oscar Escandon and stopped the Colombian power puncher in the final round of their 10-round featherweight fight at T-Mobile Arena. Phoenix’s Castro (27-0, 12 KOs), who went off as an 11-1 favorite at MGM Grand’s sports book, scored knockdowns during the seventh and 10th rounds before referee Celestino Ruiz stopped the opener of the Manny Pacquiao-Yordenis Ugas pay-per-view show.

Ruiz waved an end to the bout because Escandon took a knee after reaching his feet following a knockdown early in the 10th round. The official time of the stoppage was 1:08 of the 10th round.

The 37-year-old Escandon (26-6, 18 KOs) lost by knockout or technical knockout for the fourth time.

Castro wobbled Escandon with a right hand about 45 seconds into the 10th round. Castro attacked a vulnerable Escandon and unloaded a barrage of power punches that eventually sent Escandon to his gloves and knees.

Escandon got up, but he took a knee once Ruiz’s count reached six. Ruiz waved an end to the fight once Escandon voluntarily went down again.

Castro connected with a sweeping left hook with about 30 seconds to go in the ninth round. Escandon pressed the action throughout that round, yet he didn’t land many punches.

Escandon and Castro each landed flush punches in a competitive eighth round, but neither fighter appeared hurt at any point in those three minutes.

An opportunistic Castro sensed Escandon was still hurt from the end of the sixth round when the seventh round began. He attacked accordingly and buzzed Escandon with a right hand in the center of the ring.

Escandon seemingly slipped to the canvas several seconds later, but Ruiz ruled it a knockdown. Escandon recovered and landed some thudding right hands of his own in what developed into a very entertaining, competitive round.

Castro continued in the sixth round to build on the momentum he built during the fifth round. He consistently landed right hands, including an overhand right that buzzed Escandon and knocked him into the ropes just before the sixth round ended.

Castro caught Escandon with a right and then a left in the final 15 seconds of the fifth round. By then, Castro began finding his distance and landed more regularly than he had during the previous four rounds.

Castro caught Escandon with a right hand toward the end of the fourth round that made the aggressor reset his feet. Escandon hit Castro with the harder punches prior to Castro connecting with that shot.

Escandon backed Castro into the ropes a minute into the third round and landed to his head and body. Castro took the action back to the center of the ring later in the third round and tried to keep Escandon from coming forward, despite his limited power.

Castro came back from a rough first round to make the second round competitive. He took Escandon’s power better in those three minutes and landed the type of body and head shots he couldn’t land in the opening round.

A right-left combination by Escandon buzzed Castro about 40 seconds into their fight and forced Castro to move away from him. Escandon knocked Castro into the ropes with a left hook just before the first round ended as well.

Castro and Escandon were supposed to fight next Saturday night at Footprint Center in Phoenix. Their 10-rounder was the opener of Showtime’s tripleheader, but that telecast was postponed indefinitely because its headliner, former WBC super middleweight champ David Benavidez, contracted COVID-19.

Barely more than a day later, Castro-Escandon was added to the pay-per-view portion of the Pacquiao-Ugas show because Ugas was elevated from his undercard slot into the main event. Ugas replaced Errol Spence Jr. on 11 days’ notice because Spence suffered a serious eye injury that required surgery August 11.

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